


The Short-Lived But Fruitful Sex Toy Branch of Stark Industries

by AMidnightDreary



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Anal Sex, Attraction, Banter, Blow Jobs, Bottom Loki (Marvel), Crack Treated Seriously, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dom/sub Undertones, Enemies to Lovers, Everybody Is Very Jealous Of Sex Toys, Feels, Flirting, Fluff and Smut, Fucking Machines, Getting Together, Hair-pulling, Happy Ending, Loki (Marvel) Does What He Wants, Loki (Marvel) Is A Little Shit, M/M, Miscommunication, Multiple Orgasms, Mutual Pining, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Oblivious Loki (Marvel), Oblivious Tony Stark, Pining Tony Stark, Porn With Plot, Praise Kink, Resolved Sexual Tension, Sex Toys, Sexual Tension, Snark, Sounding, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Weird Competitions, idiots to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:27:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24998302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AMidnightDreary/pseuds/AMidnightDreary
Summary: “Do your teammates know about this?” Loki asks, sounding casual despite the fact that his current position is in no way casual.“That I agreed to a DIY sex toy competition with one of our top-of-the-list enemies?” Tony deadpans. “Sure. They’re really happy about it.”
Relationships: Loki/Tony Stark
Comments: 181
Kudos: 710





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> You can blame this entire thing on **LoveReignsSupreme.** If you have any complaints, please direct them at her. (Also thanks so much for beta-ing and cheering me on!!)
> 
> The story is finished and will be fully posted by Friday. Enjoy!

Tony did not technically _plan_ to develop sex toys.

Really, he didn’t.

Thing is, when you are awake for days on end, it’s very possible that you eventually run out of things to do. And then you sit there in your workshop, surrounded by some empty bottles and takeout boxes, and you’ve already _tried_ watching awful porn because who knows, maybe that’ll help you calm down (it did not help at all), so your brain takes it a step further and eventually you think, _hey, it’s a shame my company doesn’t have a sex toy branch, I should change that right now!_

So you build a sex toy.

And then, maybe, definitely, stupidly, you tweet about the sex toy you just built and the world goes fucking crazy. Because you’re Tony Stark, and while everybody and their mother knows that you are a bit of a slut, this is - this is, _wow,_ I mean, really? You’re supposed to be a responsible superhero. Responsible superheros do not spend their time building perfectly shaped, self-lubricating dildos, and they certainly don’t tweet something decidedly suggestive about it at three am in the morning.

Anyway.

Pepper spends the entire next morning shouting, and that’s the end of the sex toy branch of Stark Industries.

Or so they thought.

*

The warehouse is suspiciously empty. Under other circumstances, there would be nothing suspicious about it, because this warehouse is _supposed_ to be empty, but given that the Avengers just spent two hours fighting off actual orcs to get into the building, this really is a bit weird.

The others are still outside. Tony only went ahead because he was the one who got the first chance to do so, and now that the doors have closed behind him, _that_ is also a bit suspicious.

The whole thing starts making sense when Tony sees Loki sitting there, on a chair in the middle of the empty space, one leg lazily thrown over the other. A freaking book in his lap.

Tony makes the faceplate of his suit slide up and looks at the god, very much Done With This. “Okay, tell me we haven't been fighting against illusions the whole time.”

Loki looks at him calmly, a smirk on his lips. “I'm afraid that would be a lie.”

Tony needs about half of a second to figure out what’s going on.

The orcs were just a distraction, then - expertly crafted illusions that fell and bled and let people trample around on them like good corpses. There’s apparently nothing going in this empty warehouse except Loki lazing around, and since the first two rules you learn when fighting the God of Mischief are a, nothing is ever as it fucking seems and b, everything you think is just a coincidence is actually a scheme, Tony is very certain that the illusions did not just _randomly_ decide to let him into the building.

Great. Just great.

“Alright, Saruman, let me guess,” Tony says. “There’s some magic keeping the others from entering and keeping me from leaving until you get what you want. Am I right?”

Loki’s smirk intensifies. “Clever as always.”

“Okay, look - if there’s something you want from me, there’s no need for an army of orcs.”

“Oh, but I needed to make sure that I would get your attention.”

“I’m easily distracted. A flashing green neon sign would’ve been enough.”

“And incredibly boring, don’t you think?” Loki’s lips stretch into one of his shark smiles. “I know you hate _boring_ as much as I do, Mr. Stark.”

“I think we can drop the courtesies,” Tony says dryly. “Spit it out, Princess, what can I do for you today?”

“Such a vague question,” Loki muses. “I could come up with quite a few replies, but I think -” That smile again. “Maybe later.”

He closes his book and it vanishes into the air. Tony watches as Loki stands up and approaches, coming to stand in front of Tony with his hands behind his back. Since Tony is in his suit, they are pretty much at eye-level.

“I’ve been wondering about something for a few days now,” Loki says, his tone calm and light.

By now, Tony’s more than just a little wary. He knows that JARVIS is still trying to reach the other Avengers through the walls of magic Loki pulled up, and until that works Tony doesn’t have any other choice than to entertain Loki.

And be entertained by him. A bit.

Tony raises a brow. “Wait, if this is you telling me that you’ve come to regret your evil deeds and want to become a better man, let me get a drink. I’m not nearly drunk enough for a conversation like that.”

“Oh, please,” Loki says. “Regret is not an emotion I am familiar with.”

“Sure it isn't. Okay, then, what’s been on your crazy mind?”

“Hm.” Loki cocks his head to one side, studying Tony. There’s a look in his eyes that is a _tiny_ bit worrying. “Tell me, Stark, do you think the toys you make could satisfy a god?”

Tony stares at him. “What.”

“Your toys, Stark,” Loki says, almost cheerfully. “The ones you build when you have nothing else to occupy yourself with in the middle of the night.”

Oh, god. Not that again.

“You’re on twitter,” Tony realizes, his tone flat.

“Of course I am on twitter. It’s wonderfully easy to annoy people on there.” He slowly raises a brow. “Not that being on twitter was necessary to hear of your newest… accomplishment. It was all people talked about for a day or two, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, I know, it was _everywhere._ It was just a bit of fun, I didn’t -” No, Tony. Tony. Stop. “Wait, why are we even talking about this? What’s your deal?”

“I haven’t offered it yet,” Loki says. “And I believe you haven’t answered my question yet, either.”

Thinking about Loki’s question makes Tony’s brain short-circuit, so he tries not to think too much. “Okay, first of all, it was a toy, singular. No toys. I don’t make toys. I mean, I’d like to, but Pepper says I’m not allowed. And I certainly don’t make any toys for gods.”

“Ah, I see.” Loki’s voice drops a little lower, which is not helping. At all. “Is it for your own personal use, then? Do you keep it in your bedside table, for when you need to feel a little…” Loki pauses, pretends that he has to think about what to say; his smirk is goddamn lethal, “full?”

Tony gapes, trying to think less about the exact words Loki just said and more about what they _mean_ for the situation they’re in. After a moment, Tony narrows his eyes. “You’re hitting on me.”

“Am I? My apologies. I really was just thinking out loud.” Another smile, now - less lethal, less shark-y, more… charming. The look in Loki’s eyes is playful, almost warm. “Would you prefer it if I thought quietly, or would you like to hear more?”

“I’d like to hear what the fuck you think you’re doing, thank you. ‘Cause if you think I -”

“I wish to offer you a challenge.”

Tony blinks. “What?”

“A challenge,” Loki repeats, disturbingly patient. “You clearly think you have it in you to… build things that can bring great pleasure to whoever you graciously allow to use them. I would like to see what a mortal is capable of in that regard.” He wrinkles his nose slightly. “Everything else I have seen on this planet is remarkably underwhelming.” His eyes flicker over Tony’s suit, just briefly. “I admit that what I have seen of your handiwork so far is not too bad. Still, I doubt you can impress me, but of course I would be happy to be proven wrong.”

“It’s time to get off your high horse, sweetcheeks,” Tony counters. “What are you, God of Sex Toys?”

Loki grins, bright and arrogant. “I am quite certain that I could convince you to call me that, yes.”

“Wait a minute, are you -” Tony’s mouth snaps shut. He looks at Loki for a moment, trying to understand what the fuck is going on here, exactly. “You’re not just offering a challenge. You’re offering a competition.”

“Clever,” Loki says - purrs, really, “as always.”

See, Tony isn’t _completely_ reckless. He knows when he’s overstepping a line. He can see it right here, in the air between Loki and him, and it’s yelling at him in Pepper’s voice to think for once and not do the stupid thing, and well, Tony _is_ thinking. 

But he’s been so annoyingly bored and restless lately.

“If I agreed,” he says, meeting Loki’s eyes, “would you stop your tricks?”

“In your city?”

“On my planet.”

“Hmm.” Loki studies Tony, intent. “As long as our _competition_ lasts? Yes. Maybe.” He takes a step forward, right into Tony’s personal space. “But only if you make this worth my time.”

“Honey, you’re talking to Tony Stark. If anybody can make it worth your time, it’s me.”

“You really are awfully full of yourself,” Loki says. “I do hope it’s justified, although I have my doubts.”

Tony does notice when someone is trying to provoke him. But well, that he notices doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. He frowns. “You’re a real pain in the ass, you know.”

“I certainly could be,” Loki replies, “but only if you asked _very_ nicely.”

And with that, he disappears.

“Great,” Tony says, and two seconds later the other Avengers burst in and want to know, well, everything.

Thankfully, Tony is a good and spontaneous liar.

*

He is sitting in his workshop, his feet on his desk. Spinning a pencil between his fingers. Thinking about what the hell he’s gotten himself into this time. 

It shouldn’t surprise him. And it doesn’t. Because yes, fine, it’s been clear for a long time now that he has… some sort of. _Thing._ For Loki. And come on, who can blame him? (Well, Pepper, obviously. And Steve. And Fury. The list is quite long.) Loki is crazy, yes, and he’s a villain, but he causes more mischief than any _serious_ problems, and he’s quite possibly the most intelligent person Tony has ever met, and also he’s hot. These two things are basically enough to make Tony want him - or at least think about having him, sometimes in the dark of the night when he’s alone in his bed and, well. Thinking.

They flirt when they see each other. Nobody really thinks that’s strange, given that Tony flirts with everything that moves, and they have all long stopped questioning anything Loki does because he doesn’t have any sensible reasons, anyway. And of course, sometimes Tony saw that certain line already, or felt it when one of Loki’s smirks or his remarks made Tony’s thoughts race into a particular direction far too quickly. But so far, Tony handled it all very well. He didn’t _act_ on those thoughts, never. Not even once.

So it’s about time, really.

Tony stretches to reach his phone that’s lying on the other end of the desk. When he has it, he needs about three seconds to post a tweet: _Consider this the flashing green neon sign._

Everybody is used to him tweeting nonsense now and then, so they won’t find anything _too_ curious about this. But the tweet isn’t meant for them, anyway, it’s meant for a certain lunatic god, who sends Tony a private message just ten minutes later.

_What a pleasant surprise. Do you have something for me already?_

Tony takes a look at Loki’s profile and snorts. It looks like he spends the better part of his time trolling people on twitter, which, yeah. Absolutely no surprise there. 

_Not yet,_ Tony sends back. _Do you?_

_No._

_So we’re really doing this? I make something for you, you make something for me?_

_I’m relieved you understood._

Tony rolls his eyes. _And you’ll try mine? Whatever I’ll build?_

 _I will,_ Loki says and then, in a second message, _And you will try mine. We need to test the results very thoroughly if we want to choose a winner, after all._

Good god. Tony clears his throat, starts chewing on the pencil. This is - quite possibly the most exciting thing that’s happened since the invasion two years ago. Also the most idiotic thing he’s ever done, but. He can stop anytime, right? He could just switch his phone off and ignore Loki and his games, because Loki certainly has other goals in mind than just a really good orgasm. Or has he?

Loki _does_ seem like a bit of a hedonist.

Needless to say, Tony does not switch his phone off. He knows that he should, though, and that’s a start, right?

_My, have I scared you off already?_

The message pulls Tony out of his thoughts, and he scowls at it. _Shut up,_ he types. Then, _So you like toys?_

_If I didn’t, I would hardly be doing this._

_What kind do you like the most?_

Almost two minutes pass until Loki’s reply. Finally he sends, _I am not asking for hints regarding your gift, and I will offer none of my own._

Tony raises his brows. His gift? Uh, yes. That’s a good euphemism, he guesses. _Fine. Tell me one thing, though?_ He doesn’t wait for Loki to reply. _You’re male, right?_

Again, it takes a while until Loki answers. _That depends on how you define that word._

Oh. Tony frowns. _Okay, now I have a few other questions, but look, I know jack shit about alien anatomy. So what I meant is, you have a dick and a prostate and everything, right?_

 _I do,_ Loki says. _At least at the moment. Would you prefer something else?_

Tony drops the pencil. _What?_

 _I have no real preference myself, and I know you like women._ There is a pause, then the three dots show up again. _If you want to make a toy for a woman, please do so. There is no reason to limit your fantasy in any way._

Oh, right.

Shapeshifter.

Tony swallows thickly. For a while his fingers can’t decide on what to write, but eventually he manages, _I like men, too._ And then, _I also like you._

 _Do you now,_ Loki says, and Tony can see the teasing smirk. He really can.

He makes a panicked noise. _Don’t get smug now, Prancer. I’m talking about your looks. Those leather pants of yours are really tight, you know?_

 _Yes, I’m aware,_ Loki types back. _And I noticed you looking more than once._

 _Busted,_ Tony says. _So can I ask you to keep your dick or would that be rude?_

_Not at all. We can always try other alternatives later._

_Bold of you to assume that there’ll be a later,_ Tony shoots back.

_Bold of you to pretend that you don’t want it._

Yeah. Very bold, indeed. Tony glares at the phone and then puts it on his desk, upside down.

*

Tony is very, very creative. He's also very good at sex and at giving pleasure to himself and others (although, let's be honest here, at this point it's mostly to himself). He’s a hedonist himself, and creating a sex toy that’ll blow even a god’s mind is a nice, but definitely not undoable challenge. He has the plan and the means, he just needs… a _tiny_ bit of information, and then he can begin.

So he texts Loki on twitter again.

_Get your pretty ass over here._

Loki makes him wait two whole hours, this time. Tony is already losing his mind because he wants to start working when Loki finally replies, _What for?_

_I want to scan it._

A pause. _I beg your pardon?_

 _Just come here,_ Tony says, and then he waits.

He trusts Loki’s curiosity. And, sure enough, it doesn’t take long until Loki is right there in Tony’s workshop, looking as if he comes by every Saturday afternoon for a cup of tea and a chat.

Suddenly Tony thinks that maybe he should have left his workshop first. But that's just another bad decision in a long row of bad decisions, so who cares.

“Alright,” Tony says brightly. “You just stand there and look pretty while JARVIS scans you, okay? J, do the do.”

_“I’m afraid there is nothing for me to scan, sir.”_

“What? But -”

“My, this is interesting,” Loki says, but his mouth doesn’t move, and the voice comes from _behind_ Tony rather than from in front of him, and that’s just incredibly rude, really.

Tony turned on his chair to look at Loki, but now he turns around again, also to look at Loki, who is leaning over Tony’s desk to examine the holographic drafts of a certain toy. 

“Hey!” Tony snaps and quickly makes the model vanish with a flick of his wrist. “That’s cheating. And you -” He looks back at the first Loki, but he just grins at Tony and then disappears in a shimmer of green and golden sparks. “God, I hate illusions.”

“They really are not that bad when you get to know them,” Loki says. Tony’s answering glare only seems to amuse him.

“So, are you actually here now or is _that,”_ Tony gestures at Loki’s figure, “going to disappear again? Because telling the same joke twice is lame, you know.”

“I am here,” Loki replies. He looks around the workshop briefly before turning back to smirk at Tony. “I’m quite surprised that you invited me into your sanctuary. Should I be flattered?”

“The only thing you should do is, like I said, stand there and -”

“Look pretty, yes,” Loki cuts him off, smirk widening into a sharp smile that shows too many teeth. “That would be the third time you have complimented me today. Is there a reason you want to scan my buttocks?”

“I need to know where everything is,” Tony says. “JARVIS -”

 _“I’m trying,”_ JARVIS says, sounding slightly annoyed. _“I can’t seem to… get through, so to say.”_

Loki grins, and Tony whines. “Oh, come _on._ I bet you can do the exact same thing with magic, and I’ve got no way of stopping you, so it’d be only fair if -”

“Fairness is not something I particularly care about,” Loki says with an elegant lift of his shoulders. “Something you should have anticipated.”

“Okay,” Tony says, shrugging himself. “Okay then, fine. If you don’t want a toy that was specifically built for you and can hit _all_ the right places, your loss. Fine with me, though. And yeah, that was all I wanted, so you know. Shoo.”

Loki doesn’t leave. He stays where he is, his eyes slightly narrowed, and obviously thinks about what Tony said. Eventually, he sighs and waves his hand before crossing his arms. “Fine, then. Scan me. But if you have any _other_ motives than -”

“Don’t worry, Bambi, I'm only interested in your ass because of our game. JARVIS, you done?”

_“Yes, sir.”_

“Great.” Tony grins at Loki. “Thanks. You can go now.”

“So charming,” Loki drawls, still glaring slightly.

“Don’t be offended. We have work to do, haven’t we?”

Loki’s expression clears, annoyance replaced by a smirk. “You are astonishingly eager.”

“If anyone’s eager here, it’s you, not me,” Tony shoots back. “You suggested this.” He pauses, frowning. “Actually, now that you’re here, can I ask _why?”_

“You asked me to come here.”

“And you know exactly that that’s not what I meant.”

Loki rolls his eyes. “Why do you think I suggested it? I was bored, Stark, and your shamelessness amuses me. And while I have seen more handsome men, since I do not intend to actually bed you, you will do for now.”

Oh, wow. “Who’s being charming now, huh?”

“Please, don’t pretend to be disappointed,” Loki says, decidedly less amused now. “This is a game, nothing more. It will be a great source of amusement for both of us, I’m sure. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I do have work to do.”

He vanishes, and for a while Tony just sits there and frowns at nothing in particular. He feels like the end of their conversation was a bit weird, but then again, talking to Loki is always a bit weird.

Usually it's also fun, though. And this today? Wasn't much fun. _Don't pretend to be disappointed._ What does that even mean? Tony wasn’t even pretending. He just thought that, maybe, just maybe, Loki was in this for _more_ than just a really good orgasm, that he enjoys bantering with Tony just as much as Tony does with him.

Stupid, Tony. _Stupid._

*

They take to chatting on twitter. Yes, Tony knows that’s a bit weird and ridiculous and likely to get him a long list of reprimands and complaints from everyone he knows. No, he does not intend to stop.

It begins like this: Tony, way after midnight, once again in his workshop. His phone is a bit of a distraction, because now that he knows that one of the things Loki does when he isn’t bothering the Avengers is causing mischief on twitter, Tony likes to _watch_ Loki cause mischief on twitter. It’s hilarious how many people Loki can annoy with just a few words - actually, it’s _art._ But, anyway, that’s not the point right now. 

The point is that Tony is almost done.

Which is why he opens their chat window and types, _I’m almost done._

It takes not even two minutes, this time.

 _It’s been three days,_ Loki sends back. _Have you slept at all?_

_Does that matter?_

_Of course._

_Aw,_ Tony replies. _Worried, Bambi?_

_You aren't of much use to me if you can barely keep your eyes open._

Yeah, right. Tony rolls his eyes. _Like you made clear last time, it's not like you'll fuck me. So don't worry, my inventions don't get tired._

A few minutes pass until Loki answers. _You are going to watch, though, and I would be awfully insulted if you fell asleep before I'm finished._

Tony nearly falls off his chair. He wants Tony to watch. _Loki_ wants Tony to _watch._ And that's - okay, fine, it's not like Tony hasn't thought about it himself, and actually he's been thinking about how to get Loki to let him watch. But after what Loki said the last time they saw each other, Tony didn't have a lot of hope left. 

Now, though. He can think about it again now, think about how Loki would _look_ on the dark and expensive sheets of Tony's bed, his pale skin flushed and sweaty. He has never seen Loki in anything other than leather covering him from neck to toe, but he has enough imagination to fill the gaps, and that picture alone is enough to make Tony's mouth go dry because, yes, _yep,_ that's exactly what he's been wanting for quite a while now. 

He swallows, thumbs hovering above the phone screen. Finally he types, _You like being watched?_

He clears his throat and stares at his phone, waiting for a reply.

_That depends._

_On what?_ Tony asks at once.

 _On the person watching, of course,_ Loki answers. _It's not something I would allow to just anyone._

Oh. _Oh._

Tony grins. _But you'll let me?_

_You’re keen, then?_

Tony doesn't want to make it too easy, so he sends back, _Well, I've seen more handsome men, but I guess you'll do._

(Yes, fine, maybe he hasn't yet fully forgiven Loki for that particular comment.)

Loki starts to type, and he continues to type, long enough that Tony gets a tiny bit nervous. Finally there is a little block of text that makes him hold his breath.

_But I will look handsome enough writhing in your bed, don’t you think? High on the pleasure something you built will be giving me, I’ll be quite the sight. A sight no other mortal has ever seen, I might add._

Sometimes Tony wonders ifLoki can read minds or something, but he doubts that Loki would give him an honest answer if Tony asked.

Anyway.

Look, Tony is by no means a control freak. (Not regarding people, at least. His inventions are a different thing.) But yeah, he _is_ a bit possessive and yeah, he likes having his ego stroked, and the thought that he’ll be the first mortal to see and hear - and shit, maybe, hopefully even _touch_ \- Loki like that is, yes. Very nice indeed. Tony has always enjoyed taking care of his lovers and _never_ lets anyone leave his bed unsatisfied, and he does intend to make Loki see goddamn stars.

Because then, maybe, he’ll come back.

But Tony tries not to think about all of that too much right now, because he can't let Loki know that he's struck the exact right nerve. Except Loki probably knows that already, anyway.

 _Who said you'll be in a bed?_ Tony sends.

 _Interesting,_ Loki replies. _When will you be done?_

Tony thinks about it for a moment, two or three days should be more than enough time for the last tweaks. Still, he wants to keep Loki on edge, so he types, _I’ll tell you as soon as I am._

 _Fine,_ Loki says, _but do not dawdle._

And well, you'd think that's it.

It's not. 

Because then, for some reason nobody will ever comprehend, Loki starts talking about the last season of Black Mirror. And Tony keeps replying. And soon they have sent each other dozens of messages that do not have a single thing to do with the whole sex toy competition they've got going on.

No, Tony does not understand how this is his life, either.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize about the ending in advance.

“Hey, JARVIS,” Tony says tiredly, dropping his phone onto his chest.

_“Yes, sir?”_

“I think I’m kinda fucked.”

JARVIS hesitates. It’s never good when JARVIS hesitates. _“Why do you think so?”_

“He’s too funny,” Tony complains. “And smart. He shouldn’t be this smart, it’s not fair. It’s messing with my head.”

 _“I suppose it’s my duty to remind you that Loki is, technically, a villain,”_ JARVIS says, helpful as always. _“But maybe I should also remind you that he has not actually hurt anyone in almost two years now.”_ A pause. _“Well, he did cause a few bruises and fractures, but -”_

“Yes, J, I get it,” Tony interrupts. “Thanks, but the fact that he’s a villain isn’t what makes this so difficult.”

_“Of course it isn’t.”_

Tony ignores his AI’s resigned tone. “I mean, he’s made it pretty clear that he’s not interested in, you know. Me.”

_“He clearly is attracted to you.”_

“Yes, he thinks I’m hot enough for a bit of fun,” Tony says, rolling his eyes. “Doesn’t make him special. Everybody thinks I’m hot.”

_“Your humility never fails to astound me.”_

“But he’s not - he doesn’t even -” Tony cuts himself off with a frustrated noise.

His phone vibrates. Tony takes it and squints at the screen, reading Loki’s newest message. _If you've fallen asleep, I’ll be cross. I’m not done._

Tony snorts. _I’m here,_ he answers, and Loki continues complaining about Doctor Doom’s stupidity. 

_“I am certain he likes you, sir,”_ JARVIS says carefully. _“May I suggest telling him how you -”_

“No,” Tony says, quickly. “No, nope, _no._ Not happening. He’d cut off my head, and I need my head.”

JARVIS stays silent, and Tony concentrates on replying to Loki’s messages. Tries to, anyway; his thoughts are still somewhere else.

Okay, yes, so what if he likes Loki? A bit too much? It’s nothing serious. A tiny crush, that’s all. Tony has always been into intelligence and competency and wit and boy, does Loki deliver. Also Loki has _challenged_ him, and that’s just all kinds of wonderful. Tony’s never met anyone who can keep up with him in regards to intelligence and creativity like Loki can, so this is _thrilling._ Nevermind that it’s about sex toys, if anything that’s a plus.

Loki might not want anything else from Tony, but at least he’s interested enough to play this game with him. That has to count for something, right?

*

Tony thinks that he could get used to the sight of Loki standing in the workshop. He looks good here in the midst of Tony’s tools and trinkets and inventions, and he looks even better because of that gleam of anticipation in his eyes that makes Tony want to get Loki out of his clothes as soon as possible. 

But, well, all in due time.

“Impatient, huh?” is the first thing Tony says, grinning at Loki from where he is sitting at his desk.

Loki looks at him, unimpressed. If he’s embarrassed by the fact that he showed up in the workshop five seconds after Tony asked him to, he hides it very well. “I don’t see why we should draw this out any longer than necessary.”

 _Asshole,_ Tony thinks, but what he says is, “Really? I’d have pegged you as someone who likes to make people tremble and wait.”

“Other people, yes,” Loki says. “Myself? Not really. Now, Stark, do you have something for me or not?”

No foreplay, then; Loki wants to get right to the point. Tony swallows down his disappointment and gets up from his chair. “Yeah, over here.”

He leads Loki to the part of the workshop where JARVIS or Pepper sometimes force Tony to go and take a break. There’s an old and comfortable sofa - comfortable enough for twenty-minute naps, anyway -, and in front of the sofa Tony placed the toy he built.

“Ah,” Loki says, the word just a breath. “I see.”

Tony watches him very closely, and instantly he knows that he’s got Loki exactly where he wants him. There is definite interest showing in Loki’s eyes as he looks at the sybian, and he only needs a moment to figure out exactly how Tony placed it - namely, so that Loki will be facing the sofa directly.

“Is that your place, then?” Loki asks, glancing at the sofa before he looks at Tony, a familiar smirk on his lips.

“Yep,” Tony says, popping the last letter. “If you haven’t changed your mind, that is.”

“Oh, no,” Loki says, tone light. “I haven’t.”

And then he raises his hands up to his chest and starts to unbuckle his leather coat. Tony’s fingers twitch; _god,_ he wants to undress Loki himself. Very badly. But he clears his throat and makes his way to the low table next to the sofa, where he put everything else they - or rather Loki - will need. This is a competition, not an affair, and Tony can’t allow himself to forget that.

“Stark.”

Loki’s voice is sharp, and Tony turns away from the things on the table to look at Loki, who is frowning. His hands have stilled.

“I thought you wanted to watch,” Loki says, apparently displeased for some reason.

 _Maybe I want to do more than that,_ Tony almost says, but he bites his tongue in time. “I do,” he says instead, and it seems to be enough, because Loki’s expression smoothens.

“Then watch,” he says and wait, is that an order?

Tony frowns slightly. He usually doesn’t let anyone order him around, and he doesn’t enjoy it in bed, either. They aren’t in a bed, of course, and they’ll probably never be in a bed, and if this is all he gets, then fine. _Fine._ If he’s honest with himself, he would probably even kneel if Loki asked. Like Loki did in Stuttgart - only more private. Just the two of them.

Tony swallows.

Loki is apparently satisfied, because he continues peeling himself out of his many layers of leather and fabric. Tony watches those long-fingered hands loosening all the buckles and ties until Loki’s chest is bare, and all he wants to do is walk over to Loki and open his damned pants himself, because Loki is goddamn gorgeous and Tony wants to _touch him._ Loki always looks lean compared to Thor or Steve, and he _is_ lean, but Tony also knows that Loki could crush his enemies with two fingers if he didn’t prefer to pick them apart with words and tricks, and it’s that sort of subtle strength that Tony sees when he looks at Loki right now. His upper body is toned, all strong and lithe muscles under smooth, pale skin that Tony desperately wants to touch and also lick, thank you very much.

Loki holds Tony’s gaze. His smirk is knowing as he slowly folds the tunic he just pulled off over his head to put with the rest of his clothes on the floor. “Handsome enough, I take it?”

“Don’t fish for compliments,” Tony tells him, relieved when his voice is just slightly rough.

Loki leans down to take off his boots, and he looks up at Tony while he does it, baring his teeth in a grin. “But you so obviously want to give them to me.”

“In your dreams, maybe,” Tony counters, even though he knows that Loki’s seen right through him.

“Yes,” Loki agrees. “Maybe.”

He pushes his pants down over his hips and yes, fuck, Tony would definitely kneel if Loki asked. Forget toys, Tony wants to make Loki come himself. Preferably down Tony’s throat. Loki steps out of his pants and pushes the pile of clothes aside with his foot, apparently not minding at all that he’s being looked at like Tony wants to eat him whole. Well, of course he doesn’t mind. Tony definitely isn’t the only one who likes to have his ego stroked.

“I am to sit on it, then?” 

Tony stares at him. “What?”

“Stark, do keep up. Am I to sit on it?”

“It’s a sybian,” Tony replies blankly. “Of course you sit on it. There’s, uh - I’ve got lube and everything, if you…”

“Yes,” Loki says dryly. “That would be most kind.”

Okay, so, is this a bit awkward or is Tony just imagining that? He doesn’t do awkward, usually, but fine. Yes, fine. He turns around again and gets the lube. He leaves the remote control where it is for now, but takes the cock ring since he’d rather get it on Loki before he gets fully hard.

When he looks back at Loki, the god is already crouching next to the sybian, fingertips stroking over the dildo Tony has already attached and covered with lube. It’s black and definitely on the bigger side, but going by the look in Loki’s eyes, he is anything but intimidated. 

“Very nice,” he murmurs, his voice unusually soft. “The material is,” he cocks his head to one side, “strange. What is it?”

“I’m not giving away my secrets,” Tony says, stopping in front of the sybian. “You’ll see soon enough. Here.”

Loki looks up at him, raising a brow as soon as he sees the cock ring. “And that?”

“What do you think? Put it on.”

Loki hums and moves to straddle the sybian, knees on each side of the padded seat with the dildo right behind him. He rakes a hand through his hair, brushing it out of his face, and Tony thinks he’s going to die on the spot. And he’s not even kidding, he already feels his heart failing. Maybe he’s just getting too old for amazing shit like this. 

“You look a little overwhelmed,” Loki says as he takes the lube and the ring from Tony, eyes glinting. “Would you rather sit down?”

Tony isn’t sure whether he wants to punch or kiss him. Maybe both? Yeah. Not necessarily in that order, though. “Yeah, in a moment,” he says, and manages to give Loki a smirk of his own. “You wanted me to watch, didn’t you? And I want to see this from up close.”

“Oh, by all means.” Loki slides the ring over his still soft cock, right down to the base. It’s also black and made from the same material as the dildo. For now it sits loosely, but Tony knows how quickly that can (and will) change. Loki shifts a little, adjusting to the feeling. “Hm.”

“You’ll see,” Tony says, answering Loki’s unspoken question.

Loki accepts that and pours a generous amount of lube on his fingers and reaches behind himself. His eyes are already dark, pupils swallowing the brilliant green of his irises. “I have a question, Stark.”

“Mh hm,” Tony says, distracted by the movement of Loki’s hand. By the way his breath hitches when he pushes a first digit into himself. Tony can’t see it from where he stands, but he’d trade no sight for the way Loki’s face looks right now, still smirking even though he’s clearly starting to get into it. His cock is twitching, and it’s all Tony can do not to reach out and wrap his fingers around it. He’s always been a little bit more into women than men, but for Loki all of Tony’s nerves are going haywire. As far as he’s concerned, Loki is the best fucking thing Tony has ever had the pleasure to see.

“Do your teammates know about this?” Loki asks, sounding casual despite the fact that his current position is in no way casual.

“That I agreed to a DIY sex toy competition with one of our top-of-the-list enemies?” Tony deadpans. “Sure. They’re really happy about it.”

Loki lets out a slightly breathless chuckle. “It surprises me that you haven’t tweeted about it yet.”

“So far there hasn’t been anything worth tweeting about,” Tony replies, and Loki laughs again. This time it makes Tony shiver.

“If you say so,” Loki says, which sounds exactly like _I’m calling bullshit,_ only more polite.

He seems to be done with the lube, because now he reaches down to take the dildo in hand. They both hold their breath as he slowly sinks down on it, shifting until he is comfortably seated, his ass and thighs pressed to the sybian. Loki takes a slightly quivering breath and puts his hands on his thighs, fingertips digging into his flesh. His eyes are closed.

It’s clearly not the first time he’s had something in his ass, and Tony - Tony really wishes Loki would’ve gone a bit slower. Actually, Tony wishes Loki would have let Tony him finger him open first, but. Anyway. This is nice, too.

This is very nice indeed.

“Comfortable?” Tony asks, and now his voice _is_ rough. He’s starting to get hard in his pants, too, but he’s willing to ignore that for now.

“Acceptable,” Loki says, his voice just a murmur. There’s a flush spreading from his throat up to his face, coloring his usually so pale cheeks. “I haven’t - done this in quite a while.”

“No reason to hurry, sweetheart. Take your time.”

Loki opens his eyes and looks at Tony, raising a brow. 

Oh. Oops.

Tony rolls his eyes - nicknames are his thing, okay, a _darling_ or _sweetheart_ every once in a while isn’t anything special. Or at least it shouldn’t be. The problem is that, usually, he doesn’t mean it.

To flee from the half knowing, half wary look in Loki’s eyes, Tony turns around and picks up the remote control from the table next to the sofa. He holds it up so Loki can see. “Here’s the remote. Do you -”

“Keep it,” Loki cuts him off and, oh. 

_Oh._

Tony stares. “Really?”

“It’s your invention, Stark. I’m sure you know it better than me.” Loki shifts, pushing himself up on his knees only to sink down on the dildo again, filling himself up. His lips part in a silent gasp and he does it again, rolling his hips slowly and intently.

Loki called Tony _shameless_ the last time they saw each other. Now Tony has a few very insistent thoughts about pots and kettles.

Tony isn't complaining, mind you. He likes that Loki knows what he wants and takes it without even a hint of hesitation. And he's perfect like this already; Tony can't even imagine how much better he'll look when he comes. God, Tony wants to see him _tremble._

Tony sits down on the sofa, only barely keeping himself from opening his own pants. His eyes are fixed on Loki while his thumbs hover over the remote control. It's a little bigger than a phone, and Tony can regulate each function easily by sliding the corresponding dial up and down. He included quite a few options, and now he wonders what to try out first. He decides to go easy for now.

“Hey, Loki?”

Loki looks at him, eyes still sharp and focused. “Yes.”

“How many times can you come in a row?”

Loki smirks and reaches for his cock, giving it a few languid strokes. He's fully hard already. “As many times as I please, of course.”

Arrogant bastard. Still, good to know.

“Hold on tight, then,” Tony says and switches on the vibration of the dildo - on a higher setting than Loki expected, apparently, because he gasps and falls forward, bracing himself on the sybian.

Tony smirks. “How's that feel?”

Loki gets himself back under control, as in he manages to look at Tony and smirk right back at him. His chest is rising and falling quicker than usual, though, and his heart rate is elevated, which Tony knows because on the top of the touch screen of the remote, Loki's vitals are displayed - all thanks to JARVIS, of course.

“Predictable,” Loki says, breath hitching and eyes fluttering shut as he settles down on the vibrator again. “But, yes.”

“Yes?” Tony echoes, tone teasing. Loki just hums, unbothered, and Tony smiles. “It's on level five right now, by the way. It can go up to ten. Oh, and there's this.”

Tony lowers the setting of the vibrator so that Loki can concentrate on other things as well, and at his command the pad beneath the dildo begins to vibrate as well. Since Loki's balls are resting on it, he lets out a low moan that immediately goes right to the top of Tony's list of Favorite Things To Jerk Off To. As does this whole situation, really.

Tony leaves the settings as they are for a while to let Loki enjoy himself. And he does look like he's enjoying himself - he's still moving his hips a little, apparently unable to keep still, and his cock looks like it's painfully hard. His hand keeps fluttering around it and now and then he grasps and strokes himself, clearly desperate for more.

“How about you stop touching yourself, hm?” Tony suggests. He doesn't believe Loki will actually listen, but -

But Loki takes his hand away from his cock and puts it on his thigh instead, and _that_ is a thrill Tony didn't expect.

Then again, Loki did let him keep the remote.

Tony swallows thickly and reaches down without thinking, squeezing himself through his pants to take the edge off. Loki sees it and laughs, brief and breathless; it's a sound Tony definitely wants to hear again. He also wants to get off this damned sofa and stroke Loki's cock himself, and he wants to kiss Loki, too. He's never wanted anything else quite this much.

But since he can't do that, he turns on the cock ring that tightens around Loki's shaft and starts to pulsate, making him groan. That's not nearly everything it can do, but for now Tony leaves it at that and starts playing around with the functions of the dildo. He makes it vibrate in intervals, paying close attention to Loki's reactions - to the way he gasps and moans, and how he presses down onto the sybian to chase the sensations. It's evil, Tony knows, because he built the toy especially so that it _doesn't_ reach Loki's prostate until Tony wants it to.

“Stark,” Loki gets out, almost growling, and fuck if it isn't the hottest thing Tony has ever heard.

 _Tony_ would be even better, of course, but he can't be too greedy. This is already more than he ever thought he'd get.

“You want something?” Tony asks, sending a crooked grin Loki's way.

“If this is all this _thing_ can do, I -”

Tony dials up the vibrations a bit, and Loki's oh so skillful tongue stumbles over itself. Now that's a feat, Tony thinks, and maybe he feels a little high on it, on everything about this, because -

“That's it, sweetheart. Just stay where you are and enjoy yourself, alright?”

\- yep, he called Loki that _again,_ and judging by the way Loki gasps and closes his eyes, he doesn't _not_ like it, and oh god but Tony's definitely going to hell for this, or wherever people go who fall head over heels into _whatever this is_ with crazy and brilliant and wonderful gods.

He pushes the button that forces more lube out of the dildo and into Loki, whose hips twitch in reaction, hard. 

“Warm,” he gasps, surprised. “I -”

“Yeah, I know,” Tony interrupts. “Bit higher than your normal temperature, eh? Do you like it?”

Loki shifts a little and nods. His cock is leaking at the tip. “I do,” he says, his velvet voice so _deliciously_ rough now.

Tony smiles. “How about this?”

He activates the nanites, and he knows precisely that Loki just felt the dildo move inside him, because his eyes fly open and search Tony's, wide and dark and already glassy.

“Stark -”

“It's fine,” Tony hurries to say. “You'll like it, promise.”

The nanites move like Tony programmed them to, they make the surface of the vibrator shift and ripple, pulsating inside of Loki. Tony can make them do pretty much anything he wants, but right now he only wants them to wriggle themselves _deeper_ , just deep enough to finally find and press against Loki's prostate.

Loki curses - it's the first time Tony hears him curse, and even though the word isn't in a language Tony knows, it makes sparks of pure pleasure shoot up his spine. He leans forward, stares at Loki without even blinking because he doesn't want to miss a single second of this. 

“Good?” he asks, because he wants to hear it, he wants to hear Loki _say_ it, and Loki indulges him.

“Yes,” he says, sounding as if there isn't much air left in his lungs. He peers up at Tony through the strands of his hair that keep falling into his face, with a lopsided grin of his own on his lips. “Oh, yes.”

Tony returns his grin, feeling like his chest is going to burst. He makes the dildo vibrate harder once more - it's at level eight now - and drinks in the moan it pulls from Loki's throat. Loki squirms on the sybian, bent forward slightly, and Tony doesn't know whether Loki is trying to push himself down onto the dildo or get away from it. A bit of both, maybe. His whole body is tense now, jaw clenched, and his moans sound stifled; he's trying to hold himself back. 

That won't do.

Tony makes it so that the nanites are all but thrusting into Loki now, teasing his prostate in all the right ways, and then he activates the other set of nanites in the cock ring. Soon enough they are rippling along Loki's cock, stroking him from the base to the tip. It's a weird sensation - Tony tried it himself, because he was curious and couldn't _not_ try it himself, and the nanites under the soft surface of the shifting ring don't feel like anything he's ever felt. He's sure that Loki can feel every single one of them right now, caressing his skin and pressing right against the places where he is the most sensitive, impossible to get away from.

Loki's thighs are trembling. He's clinging to the sybian, nails digging into the leather of the seat, and he soon enough he looks like he's about five seconds away from falling apart. And Tony wants to see him fall apart, more importantly he wants to _make_ Loki fall apart, so he turns up all of the toy's efforts and then finally, _finally,_ he sees Loki come.

What the pleasure does to Loki's body is perfect, how it makes it go first taut and then limp, shaking slightly with the aftershocks. Loki gasps for air and raises up onto his knees, his hands still on the sybian. Tony already stopped both the nanites and the vibrations so that Loki can calm down, and now he just sits there, watching. He desperately wants to touch himself, but Loki is all he can concentrate on right now - Loki, who once more runs a hand through his hair and then looks up at Tony, smiling.

“Again,” he demands, and Tony -

Tony just nods, because, _yes. Anything you want._

*

So, yes: again. Again and again and again, until Loki is shaking, until his skin is exactly as flushed and sweaty as Tony imagined, until his orgasms are mostly dry. It takes eternities, hours, maybe, and Tony enjoys every single second of it. It's lovely and perfect and thrilling, right up until the very last time, because the very last time is where the problems start in earnest.

Tony isn't on the sofa anymore. He is right in front of Loki, kneeling on the floor, because he was _so_ right earlier - he does want to see this from up close. And Loki lets him. Actually, Loki does more than just _let_ him, he _encourages_ him. His wide, dark eyes are locked on Tony's, red and bitten lips parted and twitching into a smile every so often; he enjoys the attention. Of course he enjoys the attention, Loki _loves_ attention.

By now, Tony can tell when Loki is close. He sees how the muscles in his thighs start to tense and quiver, how the grip of his hands tightens, and he hears how Loki's moans become just slightly higher pitched. Loki is _whimpering_ now, hips bucking and overused cock twitching; he just _has_ to be at least a little sore already. Tony knows that Loki is about to come, he also knows that Loki will be looking right into Tony's eyes when he comes and he _also_ knows that he wants it, he wants it very badly because _any_ sort of contact between them would be fucking bliss right now. 

He doesn't know that Loki will also be kissing him. But he figures that out soon enough, when Loki's hands snap forward and grasp Tony's shirt to pull him close, and when Loki's lips crash down on Tony's in what isn't a proper kiss, not really, but perfect nonetheless. Tony moans, surprised and shocked and overjoyed all at once, and Loki pants into his mouth and nearly bites his lip as he comes. 

Loki whines quietly, and the kiss softens. Tony has grabbed Loki's sides, pulling him halfway off the sybian now just so he can kiss him, feel those red and bitten lips move against his own, lazy and satisfied, until Loki makes another sound, much less pleased now.

“Anthony,” he says against Tony's mouth, his voice a ragged mess that almost breaks on the last syllable. “Enough. _Enough.”_

Tony scrambles for the remote and hurries to turn everything off, causing Loki to fall forward against Tony's chest, relieved.

Tony wants to hold him. He wants to hold him so badly. But just as he dares to wrap his arms around Loki, the god pulls away and, pushing the sybian back with his foot, kneels on the floor. In front of Tony but not facing him, Loki keeps looking away, and Tony has no idea what to say.

Loki touches his hair, and suddenly it's sleek and decent again. He touches his stomach, and suddenly all the mess he made is gone, just like the sweat and the blush.

“That was,” he says, taking a breath, “adequate.”

Adequate. Fucking adequate.

“Huh,” Tony says. 

He's not entirely sure what's going on. He can't do anything but watch as Loki gets to his feet, suddenly dressed. Tony's still achingly hard in his pants, hasn't touched himself at all since this started because concentrating on Loki was more important, and while his arousal isn't gone, it isn't much fun anymore right now. Because Loki still isn't looking at Tony and whatever kind of moment they just had, it's over, and Loki _does not look at him._ And that's odd, isn't it, because usually Loki likes to make people uncomfortable with too much eye contact. But now he seems uncomfortable himself, uncomfortable and _embarrassed,_ and Tony feels completely out of place in his own workshop, which is ridiculous.

“I shall take my leave now,” Loki says, inclining his head. “Thank you for the… well.”

Yes. Well.

A tiny twitch of a smirk on Loki's lips, but that's all. That's not right. Loki isn't - he isn't _fine,_ is he? And now that he thinks about it, Tony isn't, either.

“Hey,” he says, very slowly. “What do you - what do you think about, I don't know, watching a movie or something, just to -”

But Loki is already gone.


	3. Chapter 3

When Tony stops being outraged and starts being tired of Loki’s shit, he grabs his phone and sends Loki a message.  _ You forgot your toy. _

Loki lets him wait the entire night, which is fine. Absolutely fine. Tony supposes that asshole gods just have better things to do than conversing with mortals they kissed by accident. Tony sleeps a few hours, restless and annoyed, and when he wakes up, there finally is a message waiting for him. 

_ I didn’t know I was supposed to take it with me.  _

Tetchy or just teasing, Tony can’t tell. He also isn’t sure what he prefers.

_ I made it for you, _ he replies. He doesn’t add  _ asshole, _ but he thinks it. He thinks it very loudly.

Sending an answer is apparently beneath Loki now, because Tony’s phone stays awfully quiet for hours. Tony glares at it for quite some time, wondering if he should send Loki another text telling Loki off for being this damned difficult or just pretend that none of this ever happened. That’s doubtlessly the option everybody would prefer - well, everybody except Tony. He doesn’t want to pretend anything; he  _ likes _ that this whole thing happened. He likes Loki, too, even though he’s being really irritating at the moment. Irritating and  _ ridiculous, _ actually, because come on, is Loki really freaking out about a kiss here? Is that the problem?

So, for the record, Tony is not freaking out about it. At all. 

Okay, fine, maybe he is freaking out about it a little, because he has no idea  _ why _ Loki kissed him at all, except it being a spur of the moment thing. Sure, Tony knows that Loki finds him at least sort of attractive, but he also made very clear that he prefers the toys Tony builds over Tony himself. But, anyway, Tony enjoyed the kiss and he has the feeling that Loki didn’t exactly hate it. He has the feeling that, despite everything he said, Loki  _ wanted _ it. And Tony wants it to happen again; he’s been wanting to kiss Loki for a while now and he wants to do it  _ properly.  _ And why not? Going from competition to affair would only make worse what’s already a disaster, anyway.

A very pleasant disaster, but a disaster nonetheless.

Maybe Loki just needs time to sort his thoughts. Or something. Hell, Tony doesn't know, but he gives Loki a few days to think and do whatever Loki does when he's not terrorizing New York or trolling people on twitter. But after a few days he gets impatient, and since there's no other way he can contact Loki, he reaches for his phone again.

_ Is our game still on? Because if not, I won. _

He waits. And waits, and waits, and waits. 

Really, by now he feels a bit like a teenager waiting for a text from their crush that just ends up saying  _ ok. _

Thankfully, Loki's message says a little more than that when it finally comes.

_ Don't be ridiculous, of course you didn't win. _

Unlike  _ some people,  _ Tony is much too old for the "let's wait at least twenty minutes so that he doesn't think I'm needy" game, so he just rolls his eyes and types a reply.  _ Don't pretend I didn't rock your world, Prancer. _

_ You didn't do any rocking at all, if I remember correctly. _

_ I controlled the rocking, that's enough,  _ Tony answers.  _ So are you done with your part of the deal or did you already give up? _

So, Loki is a very clever guy. And, just like Tony, he notices when he is being provoked. 

And, just like with Tony, that doesn't mean that it doesn't work.

_ I wouldn't dare to disappoint you like that,  _ Loki replies at once.  _ You can be sure that you will not be boasting this loudly when I am done with you. _

_ Then why don't you put your money where your mouth is? I'm free this weekend. _

Loki needs longer to reply this time, but finally he says,  _ I might need a little more time, but I would like to collect my gift, since you made it for me. _

Tony blinks at his phone, surprised. What's up with that, then? He's sure that Loki could just steal the sybian out of Tony's workshop with magic, but it's a little odd that he's asking for permission, because Tony already gave him that, didn't he? More or less, anyway.

It's a little pathetic how quickly Tony starts hoping that Loki wants to come by and  _ stay a while,  _ and he tells himself that he's being ridiculous.

But, whatever, that doesn't stop him from typing,  _ Like I said, free all weekend. _

_ Lovely,  _ Loki says.

Tony has to force himself to put his phone away to keep himself from saying anything stupid. Someone should get him a shiny reward for outstanding self control right this second, because Tony feels like it won't last very long.

*

“Are you ever not here?”

Tony doesn't look up from his work. The implants he's building are really fucking tiny, he has to concentrate. Still, he says, “No, sometimes lunatic gods lure me into empty warehouses to suggest even more lunatic sex games.”

“Well, I’m sure there are more boring ways to pass the time.”

Tony finally looks at Loki, who is standing not far away from him, with his hands behind his back and his eyes fixed on Tony. He looks comfortable and confident, but his smirk doesn’t reach his eyes. Tony studies him for a moment, his own gaze flickering over Loki’s figure, and then he turns back to the implants.

“Your  _ gift _ is where you left it.”

“Yes,” Loki says. “I already took it.”

“Good for you. Have fun with it.”

Loki doesn’t leave. He stays there and looks at Tony, and Tony does his best to ignore him. He didn’t have any plans for Loki’s visit, didn’t want to make any plans because he had (and still has) no idea what Loki wants, and Tony doesn’t want to suggest movies and pizza again just for Loki to disappear on him. Once was enough.

“Stark,” Loki says finally.

“Mh hm.”

“Stark.”

“That  _ is _ my name.”

“Would you look at me?”

In reaction to Loki’s sharp voice, Tony puts down his tool with a little more force than necessary and looks at Loki, brows raised. Loki is frowning by now, apparently not fond of being ignored, even though he very much likes to ignore other people.

“What’s up, then?” Tony asks after a moment. “I’m listening.”

Loki definitely notices that Tony’s voice is colder than usual; his frown deepens. Suddenly he looks like he doesn’t want to be here at all, like he doesn’t want to be talking to Tony at all, and that’s almost funny, isn’t it? Only almost. 

Tony is almost happy to see Loki again.

“I came to the realization,” Loki says finally, speaking very slowly, as if he has to force the words out of his mouth, “that the way I left last time was not very… polite.”

Wait. What?

Tony’s annoyance makes room for surprise. “No, it kind of sucked.”

“Yes, well.”

“Anything else?”

“Possibly I shouldn’t have - let you wait, either.”

“Loki, are you  _ apologizing?” _

Loki glares at him. “No, I am merely acknowledging that my behaviour was not -”

“Oh my god, you’re definitely apologizing.”

“Think what you will,” Loki says, sullen. “I have other things to do than -”

“No, hey,  _ hey,”  _ Tony interrupts, fearing that Loki will teleport away again. “Stay, just for a few minutes. It’s fine.”

Loki is still glowering. “Is it?”

Not really, but eh. What is Tony supposed to say? He shrugs, looking at Loki carefully. “We don’t - we don’t have to do that again. If you don’t want to.”

Loki’s face is absolutely blank. “Do what again?”

“Uh, the kiss? We -”

“That was  _ not _ a kiss,” Loki cuts him off, anger in his eyes. “It was -” He stops, pressing his lips together, and looks away.

“A spur of the moment thing?” Tony says tentatively.

Loki still doesn’t look at him. “Yes.”

“Okay,” Tony says, trying to sound light, even though - yeah, this stings a little bit. Damn. “Okay, whatever, it’s - what does it matter? It was just a kiss. It’s nothing to be freaking out about.”

“I am  _ not -” _

“Yes, yes, I know, jesus. Stop looking at me like that, it’s creepy. I just meant -” Tony lifts his shoulders. “It’s not like it… meant anything.” He looks away as well, clenching his jaw. “And you don’t want it to happen again, yeah, I got that. So it won’t.”

Loki stays quiet at first, and Tony doesn’t dare to look at him. He knows that Loki is too observant, too good at reading between the lines, and that proves to be true once more when Loki speaks again.

“You sound disappointed.”

Tony glances at him, surprised to see that Loki looks confused. Tony thinks he’s never seen Loki looking confused before. Tony frowns. “Uh. Well, I - look, usually I don’t just watch people hop on a fucking machine without any foreplay or - uh, afterplay. I’m not saying the whole thing wasn’t hot, just. You know.”

He clears his throat, and Loki stares at him.

“I see,” Loki says finally, sounding oddly absent.

Tony waits for him to say anything else, but he doesn’t. “Is this actually news for you right now or are you just messing with me?”

Loki slowly shakes his head, but who the hell knows what exactly he means by that. “I should be done next week,” he says. “I will see you then.”

And then he’s gone.

Tony doesn’t move for quite a while. “JARVIS.”

_ “Yes, sir?” _

“He was really here, right?”

_ “Yes, he was.” _

“I didn’t hallucinate?”

_ “No, sir.” _

Tony shakes his head and turns back to his work. Does Loki  _ have _ to be so weird?

*

He thinks about it, of course.

He thinks about it a lot.

And that's fine, really, because it's not like he never got himself off to the thought of Loki; he's done that many times. Loki is nice to think about when Tony is tired and lonely and horny, and Tony has an equally nice collection of fantasies stored away in a secret chest somewhere in the back of his head. Loki in his armour, Loki with his ridiculous helmet, Loki in Tony's penthouse, Loki in Stuttgart, Loki in Tony's bed on his hands and knees, Loki in front of Tony while Tony is on his knees, Loki and the damned clones he uses in battles sometimes. The list goes on, and it's a very heavy chest.

It makes sense that Loki is in Tony's head more often now, because Tony practically dusted off the chest and happily dragged it to the forefront of his mind as soon as Loki suggested this game they are now playing. It's not surprising that Tony thinks about it  _ constantly,  _ and that he touches himself several times while replaying the memories in his head.

What  _ is _ surprising is this: Tony does not think about the remote control in his hand or about Loki's trembling thighs. He does not think about how Loki looked and sounded when he came for the umpteenth time.

Tony thinks about what happened  _ after. _ About Loki's weight against his chest, warm and sweaty and heavy, and about Loki's lips on Tony's own, and about  _ Anthony. _

Nobody ever calls him that.  _ Loki _ never calls him that.

Not when he's thinking clearly, at least.

*

This time, it’s Loki who texts Tony, which is a nice change. Even nicer is that he asks if Tony is free, which means that Loki's toy is done. Or at least Tony thinks that's nice - it also means their game will be over soon, and what then? Back to battles and illusions and lots and lots of unresolved sexual tension?

Shit. Maybe Tony should have kept the sybian. He could have gotten Loki to agree to weekly fucking machine appointments. Or something. Then again, depending on how good Loki’s toy is, maybe Tony will be the one who wants weekly fucking machine appointments.

Either way, Tony has to come up with a way to see Loki more regularly, outside of battles. Yes, that’s the prime reason, anyway; distract Loki until he stops terrorizing the city. Tony should practice saying that in front of a mirror, probably, to prepare for the moment when he will have to tell that lie to Cap or Fury. But that’s something Future Tony can worry about, Present Tony is about to have a  _ really _ good time with whatever Loki built for him.

Loki’s hands are empty when he appears in the workshop, but his smile is promising. What’s odd is that it’s a real smile, not a smirk, and not one of his toothy grins, either. It’s a  _ smile, _ careful and small, and Tony has two immediate reactions: joy and suspicion.

It takes a few seconds, then suspicion takes over, and he goes from blinking at Loki in pleasant surprise to narrowing his eyes at the god. “Are you going to turn me into a frog?”

Loki’s smile fades, and he looks at Tony blankly. “Excuse me?”

“Because I’d rather be a cat than a frog,” Tony says. “So if you want -”

“I am not going to turn you into any kind of animal,” Loki interrupts him. He doesn’t even sound annoyed, just dumbfounded, and if Tony felt a little less awkward, he’d probably laugh.

As it is, he just says, “Oh. That’s, uh. Good.”

Loki’s brows twitch into a frown and he looks away, taking in the chaos of the workshop. His smile doesn’t return. “This looks like you are working.”

“I am,” Tony says. “Technically. I’d be fine with taking a break, though, if you’ve got something else for me to do?”

Loki finally looks at him again, and now he’s smirking. Not as good as that smile from earlier, but better than awkwardness, Tony supposes. Yes, that smirk is definitely better, especially when it’s paired with the arrogant look in his eyes. 

“I do,” he says, “and I hope there is a bed we can use, because that sofa over there doesn’t look all too comfortable.”

Tony snorts and puts his tool away. “It’s very comfortable as soon as you’ve been awake for three days and need to pass out somewhere vaguely soft and horizontal.”

“Why not have a bed here, then?” Loki says, looking vaguely disgusted by the lack of luxury.

“Because I wouldn’t leave my workshop to sleep anymore, so I wouldn’t leave my workshop at all,” Tony says dryly and gets up, walking past Loki to the elevators. “C’mon, then, your highness. There’s a bed in the penthouse that should live up to your standards.”

“I’d like to decide that for myself, I think.”

Tony rolls his eyes, but he can’t quite keep his lips from twitching into an amused smirk. He also can’t keep himself from staring at Loki when they are in the elevator. Loki is wearing the same kind of clothes he wore the last times, too - no armour but still oddly regal, though the latter might just be because of the way Loki holds himself. Tony himself would look ridiculous in all that black leather and green fabric, probably, but of course Loki pulls the look off flawlessly. He always does.

Tony would love to undress Loki himself, this time, but of course Loki won’t even undress. He doesn’t have to be naked to let Tony try the toy, after all, and that  _ is _ a shame.

“Does something about my clothes bother you, Stark?”

Tony blinks and looks at Loki, realizing that he’s been ogling him rather obviously. He thinks about Loki’s question and manages to bite his tongue just in time, because a shrug and a grin are much better than,  _ Other than the fact that you’re still wearing them, you mean? _

Yeah, since the kiss was already a bit too much, saying that probably isn’t a good idea. Tony doesn’t want to scare Loki off, after all. He wants to do the exact opposite.

“They don’t look very comfortable,” he says, “that’s all.”

Loki frowns at him. “Well, what do you care?”

“I’m the host, aren’t I? Isn’t it my duty to make sure you’re  _ comfortable?” _

“You do seem to have made that your task, yes.” Loki raises a brow. “I remember being offered a drink that I still haven’t been given.”

“I think I made up for that by giving you a fucking machine,” Tony says dryly.

The elevator stops in the penthouse and they step out, Tony leading the way. 

“Tell me,” Loki says, “do you often offer your enemies either drinks or fucking machines, or am I special?”

Tony looks at him with a quirked brow, but Loki only smiles - one of his toothy ones. They’re back to flirting, then; that’s nice. He thinks. 

“You’re not,” Tony tells him. “Victor comes by every Tuesday for tea.”

Loki’s expression darkens comically quickly, and Tony has to laugh. He knows how much Doom annoys Loki - and Loki knows that Tony would never let Doom set foot in the tower. Or Tony hopes that Loki knows that, at least. All in all, Tony is a bit confused about what’s going on, because he still hasn’t really figured out what got into Loki before he left the last time they saw each other. But he’s willing to ignore that for now, because they are nearing a bed, and thinking about that is much more fun.

He wonders, just briefly, if he should take Loki to his bedroom or to the one guest room in the penthouse - he really, really,  _ really _ wants to have Loki in his own bed, but he also wants to  _ have _ Loki in his own bed, not just in the same room, watching. The latter would lead to more frustration than Tony could take, so the guest room it is.

Loki doubtlessly noticed that the room they are now standing in isn’t Tony’s bedroom - it’s too impersonal for that -, but he doesn’t make a comment. His annoyance about the Doom comment has faded. When he looks at Tony, the anticipation in his eyes is surprisingly vivid, and Tony is glad that Loki isn’t trying to hide it. He grins back at Loki, his own heart beating faster already.

“How do you want me?”

Oh, that was the right question. Tony can tell by the way Loki’s eyes darken just slightly, and in a good way this time. 

“Naked, first of all, “ Loki says slowly. 

His voice already dropped an octave deeper and Tony thinks,  _ more handsome men, my ass.  _ He smiles to himself, smug, and pulls his shirt over his head. He tosses it aside and Loki’s eyes immediately flicker over his chest, getting caught on the arc reactor only briefly. Wondering if he should have kept the shirt on, Tony swallows down a sense of unease - yeah, so maybe revealing the device that keeps him alive to his enemy isn’t his Idea Of The Year, but he’s sure that Loki won’t hurt him. Life-threateningly. 

Judging by Loki’s expression, he’s somewhere else with his thoughts, anyway. Tony concentrates on that, on the appreciation and the desire, and opens his belt without looking away from Loki. It’s kind of nice, knowing that an actual god is following his every move, that he has his undivided attention. 

Excitement flares up somewhere in his belly as he takes off his pants, and he already feels a little breathless. Thankfully, his voice is even when he says, “Tell me, do you often watch your enemies strip like this, or am I special?”

“You are especially annoying,” Loki tells him, but he doesn’t mean it. It’s clear as day that he doesn’t mean it. His voice is quiet, eyes hungry, and he’s smiling again. “The rest, too.”

“Whatever your highness wishes,” Tony drawls, sliding his boxers off his hips. He takes off his socks, too, and then -

Then they just stand there for a few seconds, looking at each other. Loki is looking at Tony  _ very _ thoroughly, but eventually he meets Tony’s eyes again, and Tony thinks they should start making out right this second because if they don’t, he’s going to have a stroke or something, but then Loki makes one of his weird magical gestures and is suddenly holding -

Oh. Right.

For some reason, Tony is immensely disappointed. Because, yes, right, this is about the toy. They are not here to make out, and they won’t, because why should they? 

Yeah. Why should they.

Tony looks at the toy Loki is offering him and clears his throat. “That’s all?”

Loki is unimpressed. “Yes, this is all.”

Tony shrugs and approaches Loki to take a closer look at what seems to be a normal and not even very big plug. Maybe it’s a bit prettier than other plugs Tony has seen, though the deep green color and the golden streaks in it mostly just make Tony snort. Really, is that glitter? It looks a bit like glitter.

“You may take it,” Loki says, apparently annoyed that Tony is taking so long. 

“What, are you in a hurry to get this over with?” Tony counters, a bit sharper than intended. Loki frowns, either surprised or even more annoyed, and Tony feels a little awkward. To distract them both from that he clears his throat and nods to the bed. “Put it there.”

Loki’s frown deepens.

Tony huffs, uncomfortable. “It’s nothing personal, sugarpie, I just don’t like being handed things.”

“Call me that again and I will cut off your toes,” Loki says conversationally and lets his hand sink.

The plug stays exactly where it is. 

Tony sighs; yeah, that works. “I like my toes where they are, thanks. Has anybody ever told you that you’re a real -”

“Stark.”

Tony glares at him, but he takes the plug and runs his finger over the surface. The golden streaks don’t feel like glitter, but they do feel like  _ something; _ little ridges in the otherwise smooth material. But, all in all, it looks like a perfectly normal plug. There’s no place to put batteries, so it probably isn’t even a vibrator. 

Then again: magic.

“Hm,” he says, giving Loki a look before he turns and goes to the bed. 

He sits down on the edge and starts rummaging through the nightstand before realizing that no, this is not his bedroom, and while he does have lube hidden in many, many weird places in the tower - mostly for shits and giggles; he likes watching the footage when people find the stacks -, there is nothing hidden in this room.

“Shit,” he says. “Okay, I -”

“Here.”

Tony looks up just in time to catch the bottle of lube before it hits him right in the face. He sends a glare in Loki's direction, but Loki isn't bothered and Tony doesn't want to look at him for very long, anyway. He moves to the middle of the bed, plug and lube in his hands, and then just sits there, hesitating.

It doesn't take long until Loki breaks the silence. “What is bothering you?”

“Nothing is bothering me,” Tony says at once, but Loki isn't fooled.

“And now you are lying.”

“Yeah, and now you  _ are _ bothering me.” Tony looks at Loki, ready to snap at him, but then he sees that Loki doesn't only look annoyed, but also  _ uncomfortable,  _ and Tony doesn't actually want to make him uncomfortable, so he sighs. “Okay, I - look, can't you just sit down at least? And take off your boots, you look like you're standing in line for villainy coffee or something.”

Loki doesn't move. His face is blank. “Do you want me to leave?”

“No,” Tony says. “No, why?”

“You are clearly uncomfortable.”

“Sit  _ down,  _ Loki, I swear to god.”

Loki slowly, very slowly, walks around the bed. Tony stares at him, and his staring only intensifies when Loki shimmers green for a second and is then wearing a dark green tunic that reaches down to his thighs and soft looking pants. His feet are bare.

Loki sits down on the edge of the bed, as far away from Tony as possible. Tony keeps staring at him.

“Well,” Loki says eventually, “I am sitting, and I have taken off my boots. Is there anything else you would like me to do or can we start?”

“You really are in a hurry to get this over with,” Tony says, more stunned than anything else.

“No,” Loki says. “I am in a hurry to  _ start,  _ because I am impatient to watch you lie down and open yourself with your fingers. After all, I haven't seen you come so far, and that is a wrong we should set right, don't you think?”

So Tony totally agrees with that, yes, but he's still a bit taken aback. He's used to Loki flirting with him, of course, because that's just a thing they do, but he is  _ not _ used to Loki actually… wanting him. Or wanting to watch him, at least. But given how he looked at Tony earlier, he really does want that, and maybe that's enough.

Tony looks at Loki, wondering how he would react if Tony just tossed the toy aside and demanded Loki’s fingers instead. Or his mouth. 

God, his mouth.

Tony clears his throat. “Well, then you’d better get comfortable.”

Loki smirks; he probably knows exactly what’s going on in Tony’s head. Which makes this even worse, actually, because if he  _ knows, _ then the only explanation for his passivity is that he’s not interested enough in Tony. Or maybe he just likes to make him squirm. Fuck, who knows what Loki thinks or wants? He’s the god of aloofness, anyway. And of mixed signals.

Tony tugs at the pillow, propping it up against the headboard so he can lean against it comfortably. Loki moves further on the bed, too, making himself comfortable at the foot end. He sits there cross-legged with his back perfectly straight, as if he’s planning to meditate instead of watching Tony fucking himself. He’s still giving Tony all his attention, though, and Tony actually feels a little… vulnerable. He doesn’t usually have any problems with being naked in front of anyone, especially not in the bedroom, but it’s different with Loki. Not because Loki is an overpowered alien that could kill Tony with a snap of his fingers, and also not because this entire situation is hella weird, but just - just because it’s  _ Loki.  _ Dangerous, crazy, charming Loki, looking at Tony like he’s the only thing worth looking at.

God of mixed signals, indeed. 

Tony spreads his legs, watches as Loki’s gaze immediately drops, and wonders if Loki can hear his fucking heartbeat. It’s loud enough that Tony can hear it himself, drumming away in his ears. He coats his fingers in lube and manages a crooked grin as he reaches down between his legs.

“I bet it’s not as harmless as it looks, huh?”

It looks like Loki has to force himself to look up at Tony’s face again. “Pardon?”

Tony’s grin widens. “The plug.”

“Oh,” Loki says. “Well, you’ll see.” He studies Tony’s face, his own expression perfectly composed except for his eyes; his pupils are already blown wide. “Do you do this often?”

Tony pushes a first finger into himself, squirming a little as he tries to find the best angle. His breaths are shallow now and he can feel himself flush, but he makes himself hold Loki’s gaze. “Huh?”

Loki inclines his head, thoughtful. “Play on your own.”

“I’m not on my own right now, am I?”

“No,” Loki agrees slowly, glancing down to where Tony is fingering himself. “No, you are not. Another finger?”

Oh. Yeah, okay - when Loki does a bit more than just sit there and watch, this might actually work. Tony adds another finger, getting used to the stretch of it. He’s sure he could get the toy in already, but this is nice - Loki’s eyes fixed on Tony’s face, searching for every tiny reaction, every twitch of Tony’s lips and eyebrows, every gasp. 

“Do you, though?”

“Huh?” is all Tony manages, and Loki smirks. Damn, that smirk; it’s going to straight up kill Tony one day, he’s sure of it.

“I haven’t forgotten how this started,” Loki says, his tone calm and unaffected as if he’s not watching Tony with rapt attention. “And since you admittedly have a talent for creating  _ toys, _ I wonder... “

He doesn’t spell out what he wonders, and Tony isn’t about to tell him that he’s a lonely, middle-aged man who hasn’t had more than his own hands for company in what, two years now? Yeah, since Pepper. Tony definitely doesn’t want to think about Pepper now. Thankfully, Loki doesn’t wait for a reply.

“Did you try out what you built for me?” he asks instead.

“The sybian?” Tony huffs a laugh. “Yeah, sure.” He swallows; the appreciation in Loki’s eyes is almost too much. It’s also really fucking nice, and Tony wants more of it. “It’s better when somebody else controls it, though.”

“Oh, I know,” Loki says. “Now the plug, I think.”

Tony rolls his eyes at Loki’s commanding tone, but he reaches for the toy without hesitation. It slides in easily, and - well, it’s nice, a pleasant feeling of fullness, but it’s nothing special. Loki seems satisfied, though.

“Put your hands elsewhere,” he says, “and lie back.”

Tony automatically reaches for his half-hard cock - counts as  _ elsewhere, _ right? - and Loki makes a displeased sound.

“Not there, Stark.”

Tony laughs, but he complies and sinks a little further down, resting his head on the pillow. He feels the plug in his ass shift with the movement, but that’s about all it does. “And now?”

Loki raises an eyebrow, acting innocent. “What do you mean?”

Tony snorts. “No offense, Rock of Ages, this is sweet, but it’s not gonna -” He stumbles over his own tongue, trailing off with a soft gasp.

“Yes?” Loki asks kindly. “It’s not going to do what?”

“Oh, shut up,” Tony tells him - absently, because he’s concentrating on the way the plug moves. It’s pulsing inside him and,  _ oh, _ yes, it’s definitely growing, getting both larger and longer. It changes slowly, as if it wants Tony to feel every new inch.

“It adjusts to the space available,” Loki says, voice low and smooth like velvet. Immensely pleased. “I’m sure it stretches you very nicely, hm?”

Tony replies with a surprised grunt, too distracted to speak because the toy  _ still _ hasn’t stopped growing.

“And, before you ask,” Loki continues, amused now, “no, it does not do it on its own. Not only, at least.”

Oh.  _ Oh. _ Tony lifts his head to look at Loki, who looks rather smug. “You - you control -”

“Yes.”

Tony has something very smart to say to that, promise, but then the  _ thing _ \- Tony doesn’t even know what form it has at this point - starts to vibrate very lightly, and the thought that Loki  _ makes _ it vibrate is - yes.  _ Yes. _

“Shit,” Tony says, and Loki laughs.

“You could control it yourself,” he says, almost purrs. “There is a trick to it that I can show you later. But for now, this is more fun, isn’t it?”

Tony agrees with a hum, squirming as the vibrations get stronger. He closes his legs, almost wants to get away from the sensation, but something nudges his calf. He looks up to see that it’s Loki’s foot; he’s stretched out his legs.

“Keep them spread, please,” Loki says, and it’s the  _ please _ that makes Tony stifle a moan.

He obeys and digs his heels into the bed, grasping the sheets below him. 

“Very nice,” Loki praises, fucking  _ praises. _ “Now, there are many things I can make it do. Maybe you would like it to be a little warmer?”

Tony’s about to frown and ask Loki what the hell he is even talking about, but then he feels the toy heat up inside him, to the point that it almost  _ burns. _ He hisses, and at once it gets a little cooler again until it’s just a little warmer than his own body. Still, Tony doesn’t remember ever feeling this  _ hot _ before, and he can’t keep from groaning at the feeling. The shaft is still buzzing inside him, still changing; Tony can feel it ripple and shift against his inner walls as if it can’t decide on what form to take. It’s still altering its temperature, too, warmer and cooler and warmer again, until Tony can barely keep up with the changes. His cock is fully hard by now and he aches to touch it, but he doesn’t think that’s a part of Loki’s plan.

When the toy finally nudges his prostate, it feels - odd, a little, because there’s not a firm shaft inside him anymore, but something soft and slick and  _ wriggly.  _ He’d like to freak out about it and ask Loki what he is doing, but for that it feels too  _ good. _ Loki’s creation presses deeper into him than should be possible, and every time it (deliberately, no doubt) brushes against his prostate, he keens and gasps. 

“You seem to be enjoying yourself,” Loki says, his voice barely even breaking through the haze that has taken over Tony’s mind embarrassingly quickly. “Can you come like this or do you need a little more… help?”

The way he says that should probably make Tony wary but at this point,  _ really, _ who cares? The toy Loki built is already fucking him perfectly, he trusts Loki not to ruin that. So Tony just laughs, brief and breathless, and nods, and shortly after Loki isn’t sitting at the other end of the bed anymore, but right next to Tony, looking down at him. That’s nice, because he can see Loki’s face properly now - Loki’s eyes are dark and his cheeks a little flushed, the blush even reaches down his throat to his collar bones. He’s a vision, and Tony has to cling to the bed sheets to keep himself from reaching out and getting his hands all over Loki.

Then, suddenly, he feels something  _ exit _ him, something warm and soft and, yup, also wriggly, and he gasps and lifts head. What he sees is one of the golden lines that were on the plug, only that it definitely isn’t on the plug anymore, it’s moving and shimmering and does  _ not _ feel like glitter as it slides up to Tony’s balls. It’s barely as thick as a finger, but it’s throbbing against his balls and it feels  _ heavenly.  _ Soon another tendril follows the first and wraps itself around the base of his cock, from where it starts moving up and down, tightening and loosening its grip in a rhythm that threatens to drive Tony insane.

“Loki,” he gasps out, “what exactly -”

“Shh. It’s my magic, Stark, nothing else. It won’t hurt you.”

Tony is willing to believe that for now, because it  _ does _ feel good, and it’s all too easy to get lost in it. It doesn’t take long until he’s close, and from there on it doesn’t take long until he is coming, the muscles of his ass and thighs tightening as he bucks his hips, chasing the pleasure. Only when the waves subside does he realize that he grabbed Loki’s hand and that he is still holding it, and that Loki has brought his other hand up to trail his fingertips over Tony’s inner forearm.

“Oh,” Tony breathes out, still trying to get enough air in his lungs to speak. “That was -”

Loki hums. He’s smiling, satisfied. “You were even quicker than I expected.”

“Yeah, sue me,” Tony mutters, lifting his head to stare at the golden… whatever they are. Magic thingies. They are still caressing his softening cock, making him shiver. “Uhm. You can -”

“Oh, I am not done with you just yet,” Loki says lightly. He still hasn’t let go of Tony’s hand. “Surely you can release more than once, can’t you?”

Tony swallows. “Uh, sure, just give me -”

Apparently, Loki does not intend to give him a lot of time to recover, because the toy inside him is moving again. It doesn’t touch his prostate, which is nice because it’s probably a bit too sensitive now; instead it recoils until Tony feels almost uncomfortably empty. It’s at his entrance now, stretching him, and then something starts fucking into him slowly, almost gently. It feels like a normal dildo at this point, and it’s easy to enjoy it as it thrusts into him again and again and again. Tony pants and squirms, trying to press back against the toy.

Loki chuckles. “My, you like that, don’t you?”

There's something on Tony's chest, petting him, and whilst he thinks it's one of the tendrils at first, he soon realizes that it's actually Loki's hand. His fingers are cool and careful when they find one of Tony's nipples. Tony gasps, and Loki's smile widens.

“Perhaps you should let yourself be fucked more often. You clearly need it.”

Dirty talk. Tony should have known that Loki is into that. He should have fucking known.

“And you do look lovely like this,” Loki continues, and his dark voice is almost the best thing about this. “Desperate and aching, even though you already came once. How lovely will you look when you're all pliant and wrung out, I wonder?”

The praise is a surprise, though.

Tony closes his eyes, knows that he's blushing and not just because of the arousal. The toy is still fucking him and Loki hasn't stopped teasing his nipple, and Tony's cock is already twitching again. It hardens completely when the tendrils start stroking him, and by the time his prostate gets teased again, Tony has let out quite a few moans and gasps. Maybe one or two whimpers, too. He isn't even shocked when even more tendrils appear and crawl up his body to squeeze and tug at his nipples, but he  _ is _ shocked when another one reaches his cock and starts teases the slit at the tip, trying to  _ push in. _

Tony's hips buck upward and his eyes fly open, but before he can say - or rather shout - anything, Loki hushes him and puts a hand on his abdomen, holding him down.

“Hold still, please,” he says. Again with the fucking  _ please. _ “Is this new for you?”

“Fuck, yes, I -”

Loki soothingly squeezes his hip. “It will feel very good, I assure you. But if you -”

“No,” Tony gets out. “No, it's fine, do it. Why the fuck not. God, I -”

The tendril enters him, squeezing inside very slowly, and Tony breaks off and bites his lip, groaning. He's never tried sounding before and now he wonders why, because this actually feels very good. Loki chuckles and  _ runs a hand through Tony's hair  _ and Tony thinks, he doesn't even know what he thinks, but probably something along the lines of  _ fuck, yes. _

And that's pretty much all he's able to think for the next two hours.


	4. Chapter 4

Later, when he washes all the dried cum and lube off his skin, Tony thinks that, maybe, his situation is not as hopeless as it seemed.

It’s a very quiet thought, though. He doesn’t dare to think it too loudly; Loki could still be waiting next door for all Tony knows.

He isn't sure because he's still drowsy and possibly also high on post-sex endorphins, even though they didn't even  _ have  _ sex. It feels like it, though, and Tony stays longer in the shower than necessary because he needs to figure out  _ why. _ Thing is, the last hours are a tiny bit… hazy.

He remembers coming very often. More often than he’s usually able to, and that leads to the conclusion that Loki helped him along with magic. Which, you know, weird and a bit disturbing, but good for Tony, so who cares. 

He remembers the thing Loki built with his magic moving and shifting and pulsing and whilst that was pure bliss, Tony likes the memory of Loki’s hands on his body (to keep him still, mostly just to keep him still) better. 

He remembers the tendrils of Loki’s magic touching him literally everywhere, and he remembers Loki’s hands touching him not nearly everywhere he wanted.

He doesn’t remember another kiss, sadly, but he does remember that, at some point, Loki moved him so that Tony was leaning against Loki’s chest, his skin cool against Tony’s heated back. He remembers Loki whispering directly into his ear until he finally let him fall asleep, after what had felt like his twentieth orgasm (Tony didn’t actually count). He knows that Loki was still there when he woke up. And that’s good, isn’t it? It means that Loki wasn't  _ completely _ bored, or desperate to leave.

But well, Tony already knew that. Because all the things Loki said made it kind of clear. Because - yes, Tony remembers being called  _ Anthony _ more than once, and he remembers just as much dirty talk as praise and gentle coaxing, and most of all he remembers how Loki  _ sounded. _

He'll never forget that, probably.

His head isn't much clearer when he finally steps out of the shower, and he stands in front of the mirror for quite some time, slowly drying himself. He feels oddly sated, like he usually only feels after a good inventing binge; he can probably thank all the orgasms for that. But still, there's a tang of bitterness to it all, an uneasy feeling that makes him hesitate to leave the bathroom, because right now he can imagine that Loki is still there. 

Tony could just ask JARVIS, of course, but Schrödinger's God of Mischief is at least slightly better than an outright  _ nope, he's gone. _

Eventually, Tony forces himself to get going. He stops by his closet to throw some clothes on, and then he immediately heads to the guest bedroom.

It's empty. The toy Loki built - now back to a simple plug - is sitting on the nightstand, the only sign that anything happened at all. Even the bed is tidy, somebody changed the sheets. Loki, probably, with magic. That's odd, but at this point Tony isn't surprised by Loki doing odd things anymore.

Suddenly but unsurprisingly, Tony feels awful. He should have known that Loki wouldn't just sit around here waiting for him, because why should he? They still have to choose the winner of their game, yes, but doing that another time is better than enduring the post not-really-but-kind-of-sex awkwardness. 

Why there  _ is _ awkwardness at all is a whole other problem. Because Tony doesn't usually do awkwardness, not with anyone, and certainly not with people he's seen naked and who have seen him naked, not even with  _ villains _ he's seen naked and who have seen him naked. Of course Tony hasn't seen a lot of villains naked. Thankfully. There really is no other villain he would like to see naked.

Anyway.

Tony stays in the empty room for a few sad and silent minutes before he manages to grit his teeth and leave, closing the door firmly behind him. He has the feeling that the plug will collect dust on the nightstand. Using it alone would be absolutely no fun at all.

He decides to go down to the workshop to get all these annoying (and slightly pathetic) thoughts out of his head, but on the way through the living room he stops dead.

Loki is right there.

“Oh,” Tony says.

Loki looks over his shoulder to throw a dry glance and a raised brow at him, but quickly turns back to the floor-to-ceiling windows. It’s raining outside. Loki is standing there with his hands behind his back, watching the city. He hasn’t changed back into his usual clothes and his hair isn’t as sleek as it is normally, either, and with that and his still bare feet he looks weirdly… well,  _ normal. _ There’s always been something otherworldly about Thor and Loki and both, something regal and arrogant and even ethereal - it’s most prominent in battles, when they are fighting with thunder or green flames, and well, for Thor it just about stopped there. There’s nothing regal or ethereal about shoving twenty poptarts into one’s face at seven in the morning. Loki, though? Loki could sit on a damned sybian and  _ still _ be gorgeous and… unapproachable, in a way. He always seems like a very private person, not one to share what’s going on in his head or chest willingly. It adds to his charm, of course, to the mystery, it’s part of what makes him so interesting. Taking things apart to see how they work is one of Tony’s favorite things to do. That curiosity applies to people, too, and most of all it applies to Loki.

And right now, as he’s seeing Loki there, all Tony wants is to go to him and fucking  _ talk. _ He’s good at talking, usually. But somehow he feels like he ran face first into a concrete wall; he’s almost dizzy.

After a long moment of silence, Loki says, “I already thought you had died in the shower.”

Tony is too shocked to react to the teasing tone with anything other than absolute confusion. “What are you doing here?”

“Appreciating the view,” Loki replies smoothly, without turning around to Tony. “My own place is not,” he pauses, “quite this high. I can’t see the river through my windows.”

Tony stays where he is, staring at Loki’s back. “Are you - wait, do you have a place in the city?”

“No,” Loki says. “I’ve been living in a cave just outside town all these years. It’s very dark and damp. Appropriate for a villain’s lair, I should think.”

There is not even the slightest trace of sarcasm in Loki’s voice, it’s all polite conversation and thoughtfulness, and for some reason Tony is so amused by it that it’s not even amusement anymore, it’s relief.  _ Relief. _ God, he really is hopeless.

“Nice,” he says. “So, if I come closer, are you going to throw me out of the window again?”

“Probably not.”

Yeah, that has to be enough. Tony walks over to Loki, throws just a glance at the city beneath them - it’s after midnight, now, but through the rain Tony can still see dozens of lights blinking up at him - before he focuses on Loki, who still isn’t looking at him. His face is blank and Tony doesn’t dare to move closer to him, even though he wants to. What he doesn’t want is to send Loki running, and so he keeps his distance.

“Why are you still here?” Tony asks, because that’s the most jarring question. He has like a dozen other things he wants (needs) to know, but, you know. One thing at a time.

Loki looks at him and instantly away again, a crease between his eyes. “You invited me to stay last time.”

“No, I wanted to. You didn’t even stay long enough to let me finish speaking.”

“Yes,” Loki says, inclining his head in acknowledgement. “But I am here now, and we still have to decide who won our game.” He gives Tony a look. “Unless you would rather rest some more?”

“Are you telling me I look tired?”

“Well, you do look very worn out,” Loki agrees. His mouth twitches, but Tony isn’t sure whether it’s supposed to be a smile or a sneer. “Mortals. Your stamina leaves much to be desired.”

Tony thinks about how he felt Loki’s magic seep into his skin, how he heard Loki’s voice close to his ear.  _ Once more. For me, yes?  _ The memory very nearly makes him shiver. “Yeah,” he says slowly, studying Loki’s face. “I’m sure it does.”

Something about his tone makes Loki look and narrow his eyes at him, but Tony holds his gaze. He doesn’t really know what to think, let alone say. It feels like they overstepped some kind of line tonight, but since it’s the line Tony’s been wanting to overstep, anyway, it’s - fine, right? It’s fine. As long as Loki doesn’t throw him out of any windows.

“You hungry?” Tony asks, still staring at his… visitor. Opponent. Enemy.  _ Loki. _

Loki seems surprised, although he really shouldn’t be. It’s quiet for a while, then he says, “I could eat.”

Tony tries to smile. “Pizza?”

Loki shrugs, indifferent, but for Tony that’s enough. He has JARVIS order some food, and shortly after he and Loki are sitting on Tony’s sofa. There’s more than enough space between them - Tony is sitting at one end, leaning against the armrest with his legs drawn up; if he stretched them out, he might be able to touch Loki’s thigh with his toes. Loki eats with his fingers - not voluntarily, mind you, Tony just told him to act like a real Earthling and denied him cutlery - and frowns at the cheese when it keeps him from separating the slices. Tony watches him, fascinated.  _ And here you see a Loki in his natural habitat…  _ He’s never seen Loki eat before.

“You are staring.”

“Sorry,” Tony says. “Just, this is weird.”

Loki’s frown turns into a full on scowl, and he curtly grasps the cheese and puts it all on the slice he’s lifting. “Is it?”

“You don’t think so?”

“I once convinced Thor to put on a wedding dress,” Loki says.

“I once agreed to a sex toy competition with an enemy,” Tony says, “and now I’m eating pizza with him.”

“Can you imagine Thor in a wedding dress?” Loki counters and, fine, maybe he wins.

Tony doesn’t know what to say. Loki takes a bite, and Tony keeps staring at him. He racks his brain for something good to say to him - some kind of funny story that will make Loki laugh or at least smile, something that interests him. Something that makes him consider staying a while longer.

Tony doesn’t say anything, in the end, and Loki leaves when he is done with his pizza. They do not determine a winner tonight.

*

_ I won, of course. _

Tony snorts as soon as he reads the message.  _ No, you didn’t. _

_ My toy is superior to yours in every way, _ Loki replies.  _ I definitely won. _

Tony wonders where he is. In a cave just outside town? Probably not. Not for the first time, Tony tries to imagine Loki’s place. An apartment, probably, sleek and expensive, but - not uncomfortable. Filled to the brim with books and magical trinkets that kill whoever touches them without Loki’s permission. 

Tony smiles. He’s in the kitchen, eating a proper breakfast for once. He’s still hungry after all the orgasms last night.  _ You cheated, _ he types.

_ Excuse me? _ Loki answers. His eyebrows are raised, but there’s a smirk playing around the corner of his mouth; Tony can imagine that perfectly.

_ All the touching? And the talking?  _ Tony snorts.  _ And the magic. _

_ Using my magic is not cheating. It’s a natural advantage. _

_ It’s brilliant, _ Tony says, without thinking.  _ I’m still sore. _

A pause.

Tony puts down his phone and returns his attention to his cheerios. He’s almost done with eating when his phone vibrates again. 

_ So you admit that I won? _

Tony grins.  _ Nope. _

_ You are a nuisance, _ Loki replies, and Tony laughs.

They agree to meet each other again in the evening.

*

“Look,” Tony says, “I admit your plug thingy is amazing, but, and I don’t know if you realized this, but we humans are no wizards. I know you said something about some kind of trick to control it, but can you ensure that everyone could do that?”

Loki is scowling. He’s been scowling for a while now, even though he looks very comfortable. They’re back on the sofa, and Loki’s feet are resting on the sofa table, his head is laid back. But he  _ is _ scowling. At the ceiling, thankfully, not at Tony. 

“I still don’t understand how that matters,” he says. “To agree that it’s better than your machine, we do not need everyone to be able to use it.”

“Uh, yes, we do. General accessibility should be a factor. Everybody can use my  _ machine _ without problems.”

“Well, if general accessibility is a factor, then matters of production should be one as well.” Loki turns his head to look at Tony. “The spell I developed is complex, but I can use it on every toy you could possibly think of. Creating entire wagon loads is no problem for me. Your machine, however, needs time to be built and would also cost a ridiculous amount of Midgardian currency, I assume.”

“I’d make it affordable,” Tony says, but then he frowns. “I’m not sure if the Nanites should get into anyone else’s hands, though. Not even when they’re in a dildo.”

“See, another point for me.”

Tony isn’t willing to give up that easily. “We haven’t talked about what  _ we _ like better.”

Loki quirks a brow. “Did you prefer your machine?”

Tony thinks about being alone in his workshop, controlling the sybian himself, the whole time thinking about what else he could improve. Then he thinks about being in the bed, leaning against Loki’s chest, wanting more of his touch.

Ah, shit.

“No,” he admits with a sigh. Then, “Did you prefer yours? Did you even try yours?”

“Of course I did,” Loki says, scoffing. He looks back at the ceiling, closing his eyes. His face is blank. “I did not prefer mine.”

So yeah, that’s exactly what Tony wanted to hear. More or less. There’s a spark of satisfaction, of smugness - of  _ happiness,  _ even, though he wouldn’t admit that if anyone asked. He stares at the list he’s written on his tablet and adds a tally on both sides. 

“This isn’t very helpful,” he says. “Now we just gave each other points.”

“This is boring,” Loki declares, and then he gets up. “Where is your kitchen? I am going to make tea.”

Most of all this is surreal, Tony decides silently, but he points Loki to the kitchen, anyway. When he returns, he carries a coffee mug for Tony, too. It’s a surprise, and even more surprising is that Loki doesn’t even try to hand the mug to Tony, he just puts it on the sofa table at once.

Huh.

“Thanks,” Tony says. Nevermind that this is his coffee, technically, and his tea that Loki took from Tony’s kitchen. Shouldn’t Tony be the one making Loki tea?

Since when is there tea in his kitchen, anyway?

“What do you usually understand as ‘afterplay’?” 

Tony stares, unsure where that came from. “What?”

Loki rolls his eyes. “You mentioned it one time.”

Oh. Right, he did.

Tony hesitates. “It’s not - it’s not even a real word. I think. Just -”

“Well, what do you usually do with your bedmates when you have had your fun?”

Tony thinks less about the actual question than about the way Loki worded it. The god isn’t even looking at him, and Tony has no idea why they are talking about this. Also, the hell? Bedmates? “ _ Are _ we bedmates?”

Loki stills, just for a moment. “No,” he says then. “I suppose we aren’t. Still, you practically demanded it, and you were obviously feeling very,” he makes a vague hand gesture, “awkward. In the beginning, at least.”

Tony doesn’t like the direction his own thoughts are taking now. He’d like to think that maybe Loki doesn’t want to make him uncomfortable, either. He’d like to think that maybe Loki does care, at least a little. But his first thought is something entirely different.

“I also mentioned foreplay,” he says slowly. 

“You did.”

“And you -” He cuts himself off, swallows. “Last night, you touched me a lot, and you also talked a lot, and if that was just because you think I  _ demanded _ that -”

“It was pleasant for you, wasn’t it?” Loki interrupts, and suddenly his voice is icy. 

“That’s not the point, I -”

“You didn’t  _ once _ tell me no. I understand that we are  _ not _ bedmates and that you still consider me your enemy, but you also made clear that you are usually more affectionate with the people you take to bed.” An expression of bitterness scurries over Loki’s face, but he hides it quickly. “Of course, you also said that it was limited to people you find attractive. If I assumed incorrectly, then -”

“Loki,” Tony says and, oh wonder, Loki actually shuts up. Tony gapes at him. “What the hell are you even talking about?”

Loki looks at him, frowning. “You were interrogating as to why I -”

“I wasn’t  _ interrogating,” _ Tony cuts in, “I was just  _ - _ I just wanted to make sure that you did what you did because you wanted to, not because of - I don’t know. Other reasons. Jesus.” His brain slowly catches up with some other things Loki said. “Also,  _ affectionate? _ Did you - is that what you were doing?”

_ Affectionate.  _ That word is reserved for people who like each other, Tony thinks. It's for hand holding and forehead kisses and snuggling, not for  _ them. _ But it does fit with how Loki acted last night, with his gentle voice and careful touches and sure, Tony enjoyed that. He likes affectionate, and Loki is right when he says that Tony usually  _ is _ affectionate with lovers - if they are people he likes, that is, and not just one-night stands he picked up somewhere, of which he hasn't had any in the last couple of years, anyway.

So it's not like Tony is complaining, really. He's just surprised, because he never would have thought that  _ Loki _ wants affectionate, too.

“You did not say no,” Loki repeats, stoic. 

Tony resists the urge to throw a pillow at him. “Of course I didn’t say no! Did you think I would?”

Loki’s face is like it's carved in stone. “Like you said, you agreed to a competition, not to…” 

He seems to have trouble finding the right word, which is, given that this is Loki, slightly worrying.

“An affair,” Tony suggests, toneless. This is like, the  _ exact _ same thought he had countless of times ever since this started.

Loki doesn’t react, not even with a nod. After a long stretch of silence, he says, “You also made no move to touch me.”

At once, Tony’s thoughts race back to when he sat on the sofa in the workshop, watching Loki. Fingers itching to reach out to him. He gapes at Loki, wide-eyed. “I thought you didn’t want me to.”

Loki frowns.

“I mean,” Tony adds, “you don’t  _ intend to bed me. _ You said that. Very clearly.”

“Ah,” Loki says. “Well. Yes. I did.”

Tony squints at him. “Is that your guilty maybe-I-was-lying face?”

Loki wrinkles his nose. “I usually don’t feel guilty about lying.”

“Usually,” Tony echoes.

“Usually,” Loki confirms. 

The concrete wall feeling returns. It’s like Tony ran straight into another one, and now his mind has problems catching up with what happened. He slowly shakes his head. “I, uh. Do you want a drink? ‘Cause I do.”

Loki just sighs.

Tony puts his tablet aside and stands up to make his way over to the bar. He takes two glasses and pours them both a drink, but he isn’t even really thinking about what he is doing. He looks up so that he can continue what has quickly become one of his favorite pastimes - staring at Loki -, and he’s promptly reminded of the first time they were right here.  _ You’re missing the point.  _ Tony feels like they are both missing the point here, kind of.

Tony walks around the bar again, but then he stops again. “Hey.”

Loki looks at him. Actually, he hasn’t stopped looking at Tony since he stood up.

“Okay, first of all, I - I don't really consider you an enemy anymore, okay? I mean, sure, you're a very effective menace, but you're also…"

Tony trails off. Loki looks at him, expectant, and Tony has no idea how to finish that sentence in a way that doesn't make him sound like a lovesick fifteen year old.

"And you know that I think you’re attractive, right?” he says instead, feeling a bit stupid. “I thought that’s obvious. But -”

“Yes,” Loki interrupts. “I know.”

“Otherwise I wouldn’t have agreed to this.”

“Yes, I’m aware. Everyone on this planet seems to think that you are willing to bed everyone you think is pretty, no matter how -” Loki stops himself. He looks away, clings to his cup of tea. “No matter who might disapprove.”

God, Loki really is clueless. Tony is very sure that he is getting pale.

“Loki,” he says again. “I, uh. I wouldn’t have agreed to this if I just thought you’re pretty. I mean, you are. But. I also think Amora is pretty, but if she offered me sex toys, I’d think she just wants to kill me, and I definitely wouldn't offer her any sex toys in return.”

It seems like Loki isn’t sure whether he is pleased to hear that or not. “And it never once crossed your mind that I might want to kill you as well?”

“I’m like, eighty-seven percent sure that you do not want to kill me, yeah.”

Loki sighs again and puts his cup on the table. “You can make it one hundred percent. I do not intend to harm you.” He hesitates, but finally he says, “However, you should know that harming people without intending to do so is an unpleasant habit of mine.”

“Yeah,” Tony says quietly. “I mean, same?” He swallows. “Do you -”

He stops, because Loki stands up and comes over to him. He comes to a halt in front of Tony, not in his personal space, but almost. Loki’s hands are in front of his stomach, fidgeting, and Tony isn’t sure why. He’s never seen Loki fidget before. 

“You did enjoy yourself last night,” Loki says, careful. “Didn’t you?”

Tony huffs a laugh. “Sure did.” He pauses, licks his lips. “It would’ve been more fun without the toy, though.”

Loki looks absolutely stunned. That's also something Tony hasn't seen before: Loki's features slack in surprise, eyes wide as he tries to make sense of what Tony said. He looks kind of lost, too, and Tony would laugh if he wasn’t kind of nervous himself. 

“Why didn’t you say?” Loki asks finally, his voice almost  _ faint. _

Tony can’t help it, he’s a bit annoyed by that. “Er, I don’t know, maybe because you kept implying that you were just in it for the toys? I thought you didn’t want - anything else.”

“I thought  _ you  _ didn’t want anything else,” Loki says. “You told me you were only interested in my buttocks because of our game.”

“Oh my god,” Tony says.

“I told you you could have me,” Loki tells him, frowning. “If you asked nicely.”

_ Oh my god,  _ Tony thinks. “I thought we were just - bantering! And anyway, I - I told you I liked you. On twitter. I told you I liked you when we were chatting on twitter, and you -”

“You were speaking about my looks. How was I to know -”

“I was not speaking about your looks!”

“I kissed you -”

“You said that was a spur of the moment thing!”

“No,  _ you _ said that.”

“Oh,” Tony says. “Yeah, right. But you agreed.”

Loki stares at him for a moment, then he says, tiredly, “I was lying.”

Tony nods. “Yes. Yeah. Got that.” He clears his throat. “So, last night -”

“I  _ was  _ trying to make you more comfortable,” Loki says. “I also feared I was taking something I had no right to take, but I hoped that… might not matter. If you enjoyed yourself.”

“Oh,” Tony says, again. “Okay. So. Let’s just - I’m a tiny bit confused right now, can we -”

“Do you know why I suggested this game?”

Tony thinks about it. He knows what Loki said - that he was bored and that Tony was intriguing enough for this, basically, but. Now Tony has the feeling that Loki wasn’t entirely honest there, either.

Loki makes an impatient noise, and he takes a step toward Tony. Yep, now he is definitely in Tony’s personal space. “I suggested this game because I thought it might be a  _ chance.  _ I had been waiting for one for months.”

“Months,” Tony repeats blankly. 

“Yes, Stark. Months.”

Tony’s mind is reeling. He remembers how often he thought about ways to see Loki more often, to actually talk to him for once instead of just throwing snark and sass at each other during battles. Or how often he hoped that this  _ game _ would lead to a bit… more.

And this - this  _ is _ more, isn’t it? 

The start of it, anyway.

“Fuck,” Tony says, and then he takes two fistfuls of Loki’s shirt and pulls him close.

Loki gasps, he’s surprised. Tony notices that, even though he is fairly distracted by the feeling of Loki’s mouth on Tony’s own. He also notices how Loki’s hands grab his sides, and he  _ definitely _ notices when Loki starts kissing back, because that makes Tony gasp in return. He remembers what kissing Loki felt like that one time, but it’s nothing compared to this, because now Loki is doing it  _ on purpose, _ they are doing this  _ on purpose _ , there is nothing accidental about it. 

And, god, it feels good.

Loki’s mouth is cool and fierce and very talented, and the bar is hard against Tony back when Loki pushes him against it. Tony’s done with grabbing Loki’s shirt and buries his hands in Loki’s hair instead, because he’s been wanting to do that for  _ ages _ and now he can and it’s phenomenal. Loki seems to like it, too, he presses even closer and deepens the kiss, greedy.  _ Hungry. _ Tony wants that, he wants to see what Loki is like without his beloved composure; he didn’t get remotely enough of that the one time he was allowed to watch. And now he wants to do so much more than just watch.

Loki’s teeth catch on Tony’s lower lip, making him moan, and Loki chuckles. It’s breathless and thoughtless, not teasing or arrogant like his chuckles usually are, not even genuinely amused, he just - it just sounds  _ giddy. _

“Bed,” Tony gets out. “Let’s - bed.”

“How very eloquent.”

Now that definitely is teasing and arrogant. Tony doesn’t mind in the slightest. He looks at Loki, catching his breath, and grins.

“I want you to take me to bed,” he says. “And then I’d like you to fuck me, preferably until I can't walk although that won't be very difficult to achieve because I'm still a bit sore from last night. That eloquent enough for you?”

Loki hums, low and pensive. He presses his lips to the corner of his mouth, then to his cheek. “Yes, I think so. Well done.”

Again with the praise. Tony flushes, and promptly feels Loki smile against his skin.

“You do like that.”

“Shut up and get going,” Tony says and grabs Loki’s wrist. He starts dragging him into the direction of the bedroom. 

Loki chuckles again, but he lets Tony lead the way. Tony barely even manages to open the door - his bedroom, this time,  _ thank god - _ before they are kissing again, and somehow Tony is already tugging at Loki’s shirt. He manages to maneuver the god to the bed and make him lie down, and Tony all but falls down on top of him. Loki doesn’t seem bothered by his weight, he just lets out another breathless laugh and then pulls his tunic over his head, back arching upward because undressing while lying down is a bit of a struggle.

Tony sits up, straddling Loki, and looks at him. Obviously he's seen Loki naked before, but back then he wasn't allowed to touch, or at least he thought that he wasn't. But now Loki is right here below him, propped up on his elbows, and Tony's hands are on his chest before he can even think about hesitating.

Loki's skin is oddly cold. Tony noticed that last night already, but now that he feels it under his own fingertips, it's more striking. For a moment he's stunned, because he thought he'd never get to  _ do _ this, but that passes as soon as Loki puts his hand on the back of Tony's neck and pulls him down for another kiss, because now Tony has more pressing matters on his mind than odd alien biology and general astonishment. The very pressing need to get Loki out of his pants, for example.

It’s leather now, not the loose pants Loki wore the other time. Tony can feel the bulge of Loki’s erection straining against the tight leather, and even that light touch makes Loki gasp. It’s a lovely sound and Tony wants to drink it right in, and most of all he wants to  _ make _ Loki make more of those sounds. 

“Do you magic yourself into these?” he asks, breathless and smiling against Loki’s lips. “‘Cause there isn’t a zipper or anything -”

Loki laughs, and Tony can’t help but join in. He's never heard Loki laugh like this before.

“For a self-acclaimed genius, you really are remarkably useless,” Loki says, nudging Tony to make him climb off.

“Hey,” Tony complains. “I had a too-tight-leather-pants phase myself, they can be a real pain.”

Loki moves up further on the bed. “You watched me take them off.”

“You really think I paid any attention to how you opened your pants?”

Loki smirks. The rest of his clothes disappear in a green shimmer of magic and he beckons Tony closer. “Come here.”

Tony doesn’t need to be told twice; he comes to kneel between Loki’s already spread legs and pushes at his chest to make him lie down again. They kiss again, slowly and deeply, and it doesn’t take long until they are both panting. Because he needs to breathe, Tony breaks the kiss and presses his lips to Loki’s jaw instead, and then to his neck when Loki readily lifts his chin. Tony kisses his way downward, enjoying Loki’s pleased hums and soft gasps. He wants to get his hands and mouth all over Loki, and it seems like Loki wants that, too, because his hand is already in Tony’s hair, guiding him to where Loki wants him - his throat, his collarbone, his nipple.  _ Shameless,  _ Tony thinks again, though there is also something charming about the way Loki arches up into Tony’s touches, about his twitching fingers in Tony’s hair. And anyway, Tony likes how greedy Loki is and god, he wants to give him everything he wants.

Loki pulls him up by his hair, which burns a little in the best of ways, and kisses him again, not very slowly this time. Tony braces himself on the mattress and returns the kiss just as fiercely, already panting into Loki’s mouth. 

It takes a while until Loki lets him breathe, let alone talk, but then Tony manages to ask, “I can make you come before you fuck me, right? We can do that?”

Loki laughs, showing his teeth, and it’s not one of his shark smiles. He looks giddy, too, and pleased about Tony’s eagerness. “I keep thinking,” he murmurs, his fingers stroking over Tony’s cheek, “that I might prefer it if  _ you  _ fucked  _ me. _ But apart from that, yes. You may.”

“Whatever you want, babe,” Tony says, at once. He’s reasonably sure that his brain has stopped working.

Loki wrinkles his nose. “Simply use my name, would you?”

“Sure, sweetheart.”

Loki wants to complain some more, but Tony keeps him from doing so by kissing him, which is very effective. And when Tony finally settles down between Loki’s legs, ready to suck him off, complaining is hopefully the last thing on Loki’s mind. The look in his eyes is wonderfully dark.

“Get to work, then,” he says, his hand back in Tony’s hair.

Tony smirks up at him, but doesn’t say anything. Instead he starts nuzzling Loki’s inner thigh, teasing the pale, sensitive skin with his teeth. Loki seems to like that, because he spreads his legs wider to give Tony better access. His cock is already perfectly hard, and Tony can’t wait to swallow it down. He takes his time, though, not touching Loki’s cock at all until Loki is already making impatient sounds and tugging slightly at Tony’s hair. Tony could tease him for that, but his mouth is too busy with other things to speak, and also he thinks that he’s already teased Loki (and himself) enough. 

When he finally licks Loki’s length from the base to the tip, Loki’s hips twitch upward. Tony chuckles and shifts until he’s comfortable, then wraps his fingers around Loki’s cock and starts stroking him.

“I haven’t done this in literally ages,” he says. It’s less a warning than just a thought that crosses his mind; he’s sure that he remembers all the tricks and hopes that his gag reflex won’t get in the way. Loki isn’t exactly  _ small. _

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll do very well,” Loki murmurs, obviously distracted by the movements of Tony’s hand.

Tony grins and leans down, closing his lips around the tip of Loki’s cock. And from there on it’s easy - he quickly figures out what Loki likes, what makes him squirm and gasp and moan. Tony makes sure not to hurry, he wants to drag this out until Loki can’t form coherent thoughts anymore. And it’s such a  _ thrill _ when Loki starts fucking whimpering, the grip of his hair tightening in Tony’s hair. His hips are bucking, too, and Tony wonders if Loki’s restraining himself from fucking Tony’s mouth. That would be a shame, and Tony makes a mental note to encourage Loki to do that at another time. Preferably when Tony is on his knees. 

It doesn’t take all that long until Loki gasps a warning, the name  _ Anthony  _ tumbling from his lips as if he has never called Tony anything else. Tony swallows around Loki’s cock until the wave of his orgasm subside, and then he pulls off to get some much needed air into his lungs. He feels lightheaded, and he’s so hard himself that it aches. But before he can touch himself Loki is already tugging at him again, pulling him up so that Loki can kiss him, gentle and careful now that his urgency is gone.

Between kisses, he says, “That was -”

“Adequate?” Tony jumps in, breath hitching.

“Warmer than I expected,” he corrects.

“Yeah, you’re pretty cool. And not just because of the leather.”

“You really are a nuisance.”

Tony laughs, and Loki lifts his chin to kiss Tony’s jaw, smiling against his skin. “It seems like your mouth is well suited for other things except just rambling.”

“My mouth is well suited for all kinds of things.”

“And you shall show me every single one of them,” Loki says. He tugs at the hem of Tony’s t-shirt. “But this won’t do, I’m afraid.”

“Agreed,” Tony says and wants to pull his shirt over his head, but then he already feels an odd tingle of something warm and all his clothes are gone. Tony has to laugh. “Impatient, huh?”

“Naturally.” Loki pushes Tony back by his shoulders, flipping them around so that he is on top of Tony. He looks down at him, his hands on either side of Tony’s head. There’s just a hint of a smile on his lips, the look in his eyes is urgent. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this. You have always been surprisingly intriguing, for a mortal.”

“Thanks,” Tony says, smiling. “I think.”

Loki hums and kisses him again. It goes on for minutes, that kiss, because neither of them is willing to stop. They all but roll around in the sheets, trying to get their hands on every part of the other they can reach, and soon they are thrusting and grinding against each other as well and as hard as they can. They end up on their sides, Loki’s hand between their bodies and stroking them both with nimble, skillful fingers. Tony’s already half lost in it, his hand cupping Loki’s jaw to keep him close, to keep him exactly where he is. He looks good here in Tony’s bed.

“I think,” Loki says against Tony’s lips, the words just a whisper, “I want you in me now.”

The sound Tony makes is not a whine. Definitely not. (Shit, maybe it is.) “Fuck, yes.”

Loki laughs, and Tony laughs with him because he  _ loves _ it when Loki laughs, actually laughs. He doesn’t do that nearly enough. Pulling away from Loki could be considered a crime, but Tony does and stretches to open the drawer of his nightstand to get the lube. 

He hesitates. “Condom?”

“Diseases are not a problem,” Loki replies, which is probably a no.

Tony accepts it easily, too eager to put any more thought into it. He gets the lube and Loki watches, stretching with his arms over his head. He somehow manages to look elegant even with his face flushed and his hair as messy as it is, and Tony is struck by a sudden wave of  _ oh, pretty.  _ He tosses the lube on the bed and just has to kiss Loki again; he thinks he’ll never get enough of kissing Loki now that he knows what it’s like.

“Your fingers,” Loki demands, voice rough and breathing ragged. “Now.”

Tony huffs a laugh, pleased that Loki  _ wants  _ him so much, and hurries to open the lube and put it to good use. They keep kissing while he fingers Loki open, interrupted only when Loki gasps and squirms, trying to press down onto Tony’s hand. Shameless, indeed. 

Normally, Tony would take his time opening Loki up and driving him insane, but god, Tony really is  _ aching, _ and ever since he saw Loki sitting on that damned machine, Tony dreamed of doing exactly this. So he soon withdraws his fingers and presses his cock against Loki’s hole instead. It slides in easily and Tony groans at the feeling of Loki around him, slick and tight and warm. Loki makes a pleased noise, a quiet rumble low in his chest, and wraps his legs firmly around Tony’s hips.

“Very nice,” he breathes out, running his hand slowly over Tony’s back. “Move.”

“So demanding,” Tony gets out, lips twisting into a lopsided grin. He grasps the sheets next to Loki’s head and rolls his hips, thrusting back into Loki hard. “Like this, your highness?”

“Mh, yes.” Loki grins back at him, digging his nails into Tony’s back.  _ “Yes.” _

Well, Tony’s more than willing to give Loki what he wants, and he also doesn’t intend to waste any time. He starts fucking him in earnest, until every thrust makes Loki whimper and Tony feels like there’s liquid heat in his veins, spurring him on. Loki’s hands are on either side of his face, in his hair, on his back and ass,  _ everywhere; _ it’s as if Loki can’t stop touching and clinging to him. It doesn’t take long until there is the tell-tale tension low in Tony’s belly, the heat in his groin, and he’s already sure Loki will mock him for his stamina again when Loki is the first to come, spilling between their bodies without even touching himself. That’s more than Tony can take; his forehead drops onto Loki’s and he keens, thrusting into Loki only once, twice more before he comes, Loki’s name on his lips.

He doesn’t bother getting off of Loki. Instead he just buries his face in the crook of Loki’s neck, breathing him in as he catches his breath. Not like moving would even be possible; Loki is holding Tony tightly against his chest, drawing lazy patterns on Tony’s back.

“Surprisingly intriguing, indeed,” he says.

Tony hums. “Should have done this a long time ago.”

“Oh, yes. And we should do this again in five minutes, too.” He nuzzles Tony's temple, pressing his lips to the heated skin. "In case you still want me to fulfill your earlier wish, I would very much like to have you on your hands and knees for me."

“Make it twenty and I’m in.”

“Fine,” Loki says, pretending to be annoyed.

Tony knows that he is pretending because Loki still doesn’t let him move. He doesn’t seem to mind the wait as long as he can spend it wrapped around Tony like an octopus.  _ He’s a fucking cuddler,  _ Tony realizes, hiding his smile against Loki’s skin.

He doesn’t mind in the slightest.

*

Loki is still there the next morning, and seeing him all drowsy and grumpy right after waking up makes Tony think that he’s going to be in love really fucking soon. The thought isn't a surprise, not really. It's not like he's planning to buy a ring and ride off into the sunset with a wonderfully crazy space mage, but he’s known for some time now that he is  _ interested _ in Loki, and not only in his looks. That he wants to get to know him.

And now that he knows he’ll get that chance, he’s - huh. He’s  _ happy. _

He would be considerably happier if Loki stopped stealing his bacon, though.

*

It’s loud in New York - it always is, but now it’s especially loud because everyone is screaming and running away from the flying sex toys that have been terrorizing the city for nearly two hours now.

Just a regular Wednesday afternoon, you know.

Tony lands on the roof, eyes fixed on Loki who is sitting on the edge with his legs dangling in the air. He looks disgustingly proud of himself, and Tony wants to kiss him. That’s not a surprise, he always wants to kiss Loki, but right now it’s not very helpful.

“You know,” he says, stopping next to Loki and making his the faceplate of his helmet slide up. “When you mentioned whole wagon loads of these things, I didn’t imagine something like this.”

“No?” Loki replies, his tone perfectly innocent. “I’m disappointed in your lack of creativity.”

Tony can’t even  _ try _ not to grin. “Didn’t you promise to stop your pranks?”

“As long as we were playing our game, yes,” Loki says. “We aren’t playing anymore, are we?”

Tony rolls his eyes. “We both know that we are.”

Loki puts his hands on the roof behind him and leans back, smirking up at Tony. “Well, possibly I could be persuaded to put an end to this.”

“Yeah, right. I can offer pizza and tea, although I still think that’s a weird combination.”

“Hm. I’m not convinced.”

“Sex, then?”

Loki’s smirk widens into a grin. “That sounds much better.”

“Right, then get your ass over to -”

Tony is interrupted by a loud  _ screech _ that makes him flinch. His hand flies up to the part of his helmet that covers his ear, wondering when Clint will learn not to scream directly into the comm. “What the fuck, Barton.”

_ “What the fuck?”  _ Clint echoes.  _ “Don’t what the fuck me, I should be what the fuck-ing you! Did you really just offer Loki -” _

“Ah, shit,” Tony says, wondering when  _ he  _ will learn to keep his mouth shut when the entire team can hear him.

_ “I have to admit I’m intrigued,” _ Natasha says, slightly out of breath.  _ “These toys look like fun.” _

“Oh, they are,” Tony agrees without thinking.

Until now Loki was just grinning, but now he starts to laugh. Glaring at him only makes it worse.

_ “Tony,”  _ Steve chimes in, sounding a bit worried.  _ “Could you tell us what’s going on?” _

_ “I’m not sure if I want to know,”  _ Thor says hesitantly.

Tony mouths at Loki to do something - he could just teleport them both away from here, after all -, but all Loki decides to do is teleport  _ himself _ away. Into the penthouse, probably, where he’ll wait for pizza and tea and sex and have a lot of fun imagining Tony’s attempts to explain himself.

Asshole, Tony thinks. Fondly. 

“You know, Cap,” he says, “it’s actually a very funny story.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, they got their shit together!! Thank you so much for reading, guys, I hope you enjoyed it!💕


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